Top researchers, journals and publications say that in the past three years three important trends have been driving the adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT):

 IoT systems are moving beyond the hype:With an estimated 50 billion devices being connected over IoT by 2020, IoT is definitely no longer hype. Gartner says more than 40 percent of organizations expect to transform their businesses using IoT. 28 percent of software developers worldwide are currently working on applications for IoT-connected devices.

 Big-data will drive IoT value:The value of IoT implementations cannot be enhanced without a rock solid big data and analytics methodology. Just by connecting sensors and devices to a network one cannot expect IoT to deliver benefits that it should. For this to happen high-end skills are needed to understand how to collect and integrate IoT data with data from other sources.

Some severe challenges need to be overcome:There are severe adoption challenges, including security and standardization for any IoT implementation. To fully implement IoT systems, businesses need to create an integrated set of devices, data, connections, processes and people. This requires IoT systems to be built on top of a solid technology platform including cloud, analytics, big data and mobility.

Conclusion (Afterword)

Even with all the challenges, once implemented, IoT systems can be a game-changer only for enterprises that embrace them and change the way work gets done. IoT systems offer concrete business benefits, which include increased operational efficiencies, improved customer experiences and accelerated innovation.