As the Millennials enter the workforce, the machines will follow. And so cometh the machine.
The Internet is constantly evolving. The Internet of Things (IoT) has been identified as the next phase in the evolution of the Internet. It will transform the world as we know it, creating a giant, global network of devices and machines that are connected, communicating, and exchanging information. This market will see 50 billion devices connected by 2020 and a value of $14.4 trillion. The potential impact of the IoT on every industry is huge.
While the IoT is viewed by many as a nebulous, futuristic concept, in reality it already exists: we wear pedometers, smart watches, and cameras; our pets are micro-chipped; and we drive cars with built-in sensors. Thanks to the IoT, many of our everyday appliances will soon have the ability to self-monitor and communicate with a network.
The growth of the IoT is being driven by low-cost sensors and beacons, cloud computing, analytics, and mobility. The IoT automatically exchanges information over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. Instead, data exchange is based on machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.
The IoT will add a whole new level of extreme automation, letting us program our homes, and even entire factory floors. Extreme automation will bring extreme efficiency. Robotics, sensors, and AI systems will continue to evolve and as they interact with the IoT.
The true promise of the IoT lies in the vast amounts of data it will exchange across billions of connected machines. Analytics will add a layer of intelligence to devices, delivering unprecedented levels of insight to dramatically improve customer engagement and experience, optimize process automation and performance, reduce risks of fraud and non-compliance, and quicken the pace of innovation.
Companies that learn to use this information will gain competitive advantage. To capitalize on the power of the IoT and the massive volumes of data it will generate, organizations will be required to plug into their customers’ digital ecosystems. To accommodate the IoT, they will invest in disruptive technologies, integrate emerging technologies with legacy IT infrastructure, standardize their data across systems, and create dynamic and flexible processes to support new technologies and devices. All of this is possible with an EIM platform.
EIM – Enter the Machines
EIM helps transform the enterprise into a digital enterprise. A digital enterprise climbs the technology curve with ease. Every transaction, every process, and all of the data that flows in between is digital—from internal systems and infrastructure to external systems in an extended business network in the Cloud. Its underlying systems are fast and configurable. It supports technologies that enhance automation, like sensors, M2M, communications, and cognitive systems. When processes and data are fully integrated, predictive analytics can be applied to add value all across the enterprise and its supply network—to offer insights into better performance, customer behavior, and product innovation.
As the machines evolve, they will herald in the next great shift in the history of technology—the Cognitive Era. Find out more about its impact on the enterprise, the economy, and humankind in my next post: The Rise of Cognitive Systems.
