IoT Making an Impact
In the past year (2018), I have seen the Internet of Things grow like crazy. I am starting to see more use cases and advanced solutions pop up. Along with seeing traditional businesses that are considered “late adopters” to begin adopting some IoT into their business and cost savings ideas. The adoption in traditional companies is a massive moment for the Internet of Things, 2019 is setting up to be an absolute IoT explosion!
IoT Hype
I know what you are thinking – if you have been following the Internet of Things for any amount of time you see the hype machine has been strong. You have heard overdone stories about how IoT will change everything and save you millions.
The Internet of Things has been this vague idea, and people have a hard time wrapping their brain around use cases and how to inject this into there existing problems. In fact, 70% of companies often look to outside consultants or IoT companies like Echolo for help or try to learn from early movers in similar markets.
Starting a Shift in Thinking
Near the end of 2018, we started to see a shift in thinking. We began to get the call from the more traditional businesses like small HVAC, Construction, Rental, and more. They needed ways to deliver several things like more value to the customer, reducing operating costs or growing a new revenue stream. While the Internet of Things has already been promising that to everyone, we are starting to see that take shape now for the smaller companies.
The growth of new products and solutions has grown and is now reaching down to the SMB market. You see more software companies implement some level of hardware or allow you to plug-in third-party hardware, giving you the flexibility to monitor what’s most important. This growth is precisely what was needed to make the Internet of Things a “household name.” Granted the small business owner may never know they have implemented IoT they see it as knowing where things are (location) and being able to make better business decisions through new data provided by the solution (Temperature, Vibration, On/Off, and more). Through this type of new data, small businesses can become more efficient, offer additional value to customers and start to beat the competition.
Was the Hype Correct?
Now looking back at all the “IoT will change the world” statements, I can start to see some truth in that. We are finally starting to see real traction; companies are starting to make real money with IoT and IoT Solutions.
So, is all that hype happening now? I don’t believe it’s happening yet, but I do see it starting to take shape, and with 5G around the corner, we will have to take another look in 2020
- Smart Buildings
- Construction
- Smart Agriculture & Farming
- Warehouse & Telemetry Monitoring
- Smart Parking Lots
As I said above, I see 2019 setting up to be an absolute IoT explosion, Echolo alone has grown to start tracking and collecting on more than half a million devices in the wild. I expect that number to double in the next 3 to 6 months as more of those late adopters continue to see the value in new technical solutions that implement the Internet of Things.
Need help with your next IoT Project? Come chat with us, we can get you going in the right direction to meet your 2019 goals.
