IoT Growth and Boundaries ?

Dashboard is a very enthusiastic speaker for IoT and the effect that it could have on the modern society once its full potential is unlocked. From smart homes to industrial applications and wearable technology, IoT has been on our main focal points since the very beginning.

As an observant, informed company with a wealth of commercial awareness we must, however, have a balanced view of the technology; this helps us be prepared for challenges, develop any areas of weaknesses, and avoid problems.

Currently IoT is thriving with industries picking up new technology and welcoming new generations left and right – the supporting technology, add-ons, and incremental improvements are all fuelling its quick and smooth expansion. The figures estimated for IoT’s future are extremely high, too; Business Insider Intelligence predicted in their 2016 report that by 2020 there will be 34 billion connected devices, whilst another industry analysis by IDC expects the number to more than double to 80 billion in the following 5 years (by 2025). Some experts, however, say these digits are ambitious and unrealistic – this is due to the barriers of growth IoT has to face.

The most prominent, consistent barrier that has created challenges for IoT to date is security. With the amount and quality of sensitive, confidential data receptors that storage spaces and transfers will harbour, the encryption of the contained information should be a top priority to an industry that is constantly battling malware, hack attacks and viruses.

The second barrier is the need to keep the software modern and up-to-date at regular periods. The fastest way to do this is to administer the release of new versions from time to time, but this also leads to an increased number of bugs entering the system, which decreases the user experience significantly.

As many companies do not want to start anew in terms of their technology acquirements, compatibility forms another issue for IoT. Many businesses prefer to have their new investment build on a previously installed/owned piece of software to maximise the benefit. However, many IoT technology companies struggle to make their products work with the previous, non-smart models.

Finally, the rising standard for quality, analysis and speed will prove a problem in the future, when users (private, commercial, and public alike) will expect new developments. This has already happened in the network industry where 3G is no longer enough, even though it was the standard not so long ago.

These four factors are at the core of the problems creating boundaries for the growth of IoT. Dashboard would like to stress their importance not only now but also moving forward, as these may bring up novelty challenges throughout development. Acknowledging them early on is a benefit that companies should not ignore.