Missing 41bn IoT devices: Is this the biggest prediction miss in IT history?

from Missing 41bn IoT devices: Is this the biggest prediction miss in IT history?
by Anasia D'mello
https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

Analysts and major enterprises predicted there would be 50 billion Internet of Things (IoT) devices connected by 2020, yet the true figure stands closer to 9 billion. Here, Eseye asks if this is the biggest prediction failure in the history of IT, and identifies the six key challenges that IoT must overcome in 2020 to reach its potential.

Compared to industry forecasts, 41 billion IoT connected devices have failed to materialise, says Eseye, a specialist in ubiquitous global IoT connectivity. In 2010, Ericsson predicted that 50 billion devices would be connected by 2020, a prediction echoed by Cisco in 2011. Yet, despite the enthusiasm for IoT, current estimates put the true figure for connected devices closer to 9 billion, with many of those being mobile phones.

Eseye has subsequently identified six key challenges that IoT must overcome in 2020 to reach its potential. (Click here to see Nick Earle’s Quickfire Video interview on this with IoT Now).

It’s now clear that successful IoT deployments are much harder than previously thought and substantial complexities have been glossed over. This is borne out by recent research from Cisco Systems which has found that more than 75% of IoT deployments fail. A lot of the damage happens before the devices even go live, however. Microsoft estimates that 30% of IoT projects fail at the Proof of Concept (PoC) stage, while Gartner says eight out of 10 IoT projects fail before they are even launched.

From hardware design and testing to connectivity, data management and global technical support, there are many obstacles to overcome.

The six challenges for IoT to overcome in 2020 as identified by Eseye, are:

1. Hardware needs to become relevant again

In IoT deployments 80% of the data and processing is at the ‘edge’ of the network. This is where the ‘things’ and sensors are and where data is captured. However, to make sense of it all, without the expense of having to back-haul the data into the heart of the network, it needs to be processed on the edge. To deliver successful deployments organisations need a strong understanding of how to optimise IoT hardware from circuit boards to firmware.

2. Bundled silicon to speed up deployment

The incorporation of secure IoT connectivity into silicon at the point of manufacture will go a long way to streamlining the IoT deployment experience. Bundling IoT capability at the silicon level significantly simplifies the setup and deployment of IoT devices. The real game-changer is that once the device is activated it should automatically connect to any network in the world, providing as close to 100% coverage anywhere in the world, and start provisioning data to either their on-premise solution or any one of the hyperscale cloud providers.

Eseye and Gemalto recently launched Intelligent Cloud Connect, in response to this challenge. The solution enables customers to develop and manufacture a single IoT product stock keeping unit (SKU) for any application, which then connects out-of-the-box to any mobile network in the world, while offering seamless and secure data provisioning to AWS [...]

The post Missing 41bn IoT devices: Is this the biggest prediction miss in IT history? appeared first on IoT Now - How to run an IoT enabled business.