Two Years: That's All It Took For IoT To Take Hold And Rugged Tablets To Gain More Purpose

By John Graff, Xplore

Two years.

That is how quickly IoT has transformed from an unfamiliar technology acronym to a near-mandatory technology investment for companies in nearly every industry worldwide, especially manufacturers, utilities, government and those in warehousing and distribution. Now, you may argue that IoT (or Industrial IoT/IIoT) was far from a blip on the radar in 2015: Industry research firm Gartner said that approximately 4.9 billion connected "things" were already in use around the globe that year. But, if we’re being honest, that number pales in comparison to the 25 billion connected “things” Gartner expects to be online in 2020. Or the more than $800 billion that IDC expects to be spent worldwide on IoT this year alone. With global IoT spending expected to total nearly $1.4 trillion by 2021, it’s clear that the market is far from reaching maturation. “Enterprise investments in IoT hardware, software, services, and connectivity” are just starting to gain traction – and prove their worth. That means that we, as technologists and business leaders, are far from understanding – and unlocking – the full potential of connected technologies.