Internet of Things (IoT)

Technology has come a long way since its advent in the early 1900’s (probably earlier). Ever increasing dependency on technology has never seized to surprise us. The new sensation “Internet of Things” (IoT) is no different. It will make it possible to connect devices through internet and interact with each other. The smart devices transmit and receive huge amounts of data to and fro, making it a giant network of connected things. These connected things will then interact with each other through the sensors installed in them. These devices can be anything ranging from alarm clock to car to coffee machine to washing machine to anything that can be connected to the internet.  For example, in the IoT world, your alarm clock will wake you up at 5 am and at the same time inform the coffee maker to start brewing coffee so that you can keep up with other tasks, or you return home from a tiring day and your music system will detect your tiredness through your body temperature and start playing soothing music to relax you.

Introduction of IoT will change the way work is done in organizations. Monotonous jobs will be replaced by automated machines or computers whereas many new type of jobs will be created through new opportunities that are generated by IoT. Employees with big-data analysis skills will be needed to analyze large amounts of data generated by the IoT devices. The need for skills such as creativity, knowledge sharing, and intuitiveness will increase, hence developing the need for smart workforce. Companies such as Amazon, Google, and IBM are investing huge amounts of money in IoT so as to take the advantage of this technology and use it to serve customers better and generate competitive advantage for themselves.

Analysts are predicting that by 2020, approximately 25-26 Billion devices will be talking to each other. Information generated through data will help the management in making better informed decisions and thus make strategies that will aid in business growth. The purpose of IoT is to make human life simpler by saving them time and efforts. On the other hand, it can generate competitive advantage for the early movers.