Top 10 trends that will shape the IoT sector in 2018

Work processes, cost containment, productivity improvements and improved customer experiences are areas that will receive IoT attention this year.

The year 2018 is going to be an exciting one for the Internet of Things (IoT). Many areas, including healthcare, automotive, smart cities, usage-based insurance and asset management, will see more interesting projects take off successfully around the world and in India. Increasing realisation of the value that IoT brings together with the faster adoption of connected electronics has pushed IoT to create a business transformation narrative like never before.

Here are a few trends that will shape the IoT sector in 2018.

Data reigns

Conversations on data monetisation will take centre stage in 2018 as more IoT projects move from proof of concept stage to full-scale deployment. Businesses and vendors are already working towards adding a strong layer of monetisation on the business enablement core to further strengthen the value proposition of IoT. Small and medium businesses will invest in leveraging IoT cloud platforms that are repositories of big data to derive patterns using analytical algorithms. This will help them lower the gap between them and large businesses in terms of customer experience and competitive differentiation to a significant extent.

Inter-operability with other technologies

IoT, working in tandem with artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain technologies will find more traction in verticals such as financial services, retail and healthcare this year. Overall, this partnership worked towards improving privacy, efficiency and data ownership for complex projects. IoT is, in fact, becoming a project management framework as well in terms of helping project managers understand how to handle projects involving volumes of data flowing in from various end points.

IoT impacting customer relationships

Relationship-based marketing has been extensively influenced by the appearance of proximity beacons, sensors and enhanced data capabilities. This will have a bearing on how customer experience is delivered and value chains managed.

Increase in IoT recruitment

Skillsets around security, AI, robotics, embedded electronics, solution engineering and data science will continue to be in high demand this year. This also reflects on the areas that IoT is impacting within larger projects or standalone ones. A study conducted in UK in 2017 found that as many as 68 percent of the organisations surveyed were finding it hard to hire talent for IoT.

Hyper personalisation

Wearables have become an important segment within IoT and are pushing the boundaries of personalisation like never before. Through wearables, the owner can not just manage her lifestyle preferences but in the days to come she will be able to control the nature of content she is engaging with.

Still a good time to be a startup

As of today, there are over 900 IoT startups in India. What is attracting them is a chance to address the needs of niche segments and create new markets.

Standards might remain a slightly distant dream

Imagine if you were a developer who wanted to connect a plethora of devices and make them communicate, you would have to surmount many challenges. The standards are still not anywhere near to being realised. Things won’t change much in 2018.

New business models

As part of the effort by vendors and businesses to realise more value from IoT deployments, many new business models will emerge this year.

Realistic estimation of the potential of IoT

As the technology powering and enabling IoT become less complex, tech pundits are turning more realistic about the actual potential of IoT. As newer solutions will get deployed, the focus will shift from number of IoT connections to actual deployments and value generated.

2018, the year of platforms

The number of IoT platforms available grew in 2017. Consequently, the focus shifted to delivering value by seamlessly integrating applications, endpoints and analytical engines to generate outcomes aligned to the needs of enterprises. Platforms that were already the cornerstone of a successful IoT deployment also turned into strong business outcome enablers. This trend is expected to pick momentum in 2018 as well as the demand continues to grow.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)