Predictions 2015: The Internet of Things becomes the Internet of Everything

In 2015, we will turn the corner from thinking about the internet as something we access from our computers and mobile devices into something that accesses us through our devices, cars and even our homes. The Gartner Group estimates 26 billion data gathering devices will be installed by 2020, representing (according to Cisco) a $19 trillion business opportunity.

As this Internet of Things expands into not only consumer items but in the workplace through enterprise assets, new models are emerging to help organizations become operationally and organizationally ready to take smart advantage of the data all around them. And 2015 will be the year these models centered on management, monetization, operation and extension become a central component of business planning and success. As these are applied to people, things, information and places, the Internet of Things will be succeeded by the Internet of Everything.

The Era of Personal Cloud
The push for more personal cloud technologies will lead to a shift toward services and away from devices. The type of device one has will be less important, as the personal cloud takes over some of the role that the device has traditionally had with multiple devices accessing the personal cloud.

Smart Machines
The smart machine era will be the most disruptive in the history of IT, and it is already here.

We will see more widespread proliferation of contextually aware, intelligent personal assistants; smart advisers (e.g., IBM’s Watson); advanced global industrial systems; and autonomous vehicles.

Today there are billions of data-gathering devices and services in the world. Going forward, the challenge is to best monitor, analyze and make intelligent decisions from the data they gather.