IoT: Are there 50 Billion connected devices?

In 2010, Ericsson articulated the vision of 50 billion connected devices by 2020.

Ericsson Mobility Report is a landmark report. It comes out every year and is a definitive guide to anyone who wants to keep up to date in the mobility space and especially IoT. In 2010 this report created an entire industry segment. This report created a gold rush kind of environment for IoT. Everybody wanted to be in the IoT business!

A decade on, where are we now?

We are currently anywhere between 8.7 Bn to 13 Bn connected devices according to the likes of Statista, IDC, IBM etc. and according to Ericsson themselves, we are forecast to get to 18 Bn IoT related devices by 2022. From predictive maintenance solutions to safety solutions, IoT has not only driven business efficiencies, but also has saved lives of remote workers all over the world.

During the course of last 10 years, I have come across some essential questions in IoT, the answers to which have helped customers adopt IoT effectively, enabled service providers sell IoT solutions effectively and guided engineering teams build world class IoT solutions.

The questions are

1. Why & How: Leveraging IoT [2015 article]: This is a predictive take on how IoT will transform the system integrator world. Though its a clear 7 years old, every bit is true to date...
2. What is the formula for building best in class IoT solutions?: There are 8 key aspects to building world class IoT solutions. These key aspects were distilled from my experience of building IoT solutions of varying scale and complexity with customers across a wide range of industries.
3. Why is PoC not the best way to experiment with IoT? Typically an IoT related conversation ends with two questions, “Can we start with a PoC?” and “How much do you think it is going to cost?”. This is a fantastic outcome for the sales leader in the conversation and a logical first step for the buyer. However, the reality is that an IoT PoC (more often than not) fails to project the business benefits in its entirety.
4. How to choose an IoT platform and provider? There are over 50+ IoT platforms and 100+ solution providers - How do you choose what platform to use and whom to engage? In this article, I have presented two frameworks, one each to select an IoT platform and an IoT solutions / services provider.
5. Which companies will dominate the IoT market place? This article was written in 2017, and I possibly got the predictions wrong. With over 2000+ likes and 100+ comments, this article got people across geographies talking and engaging actively. At the least, hope the article provides some clarity on who's who in the zoo!

Top class resource on IoT use cases:

What are the top 10 use cases in IoT? BCG's Winning in IoT is probably the most definitive report I have come across in this space. Having built successful IoT businesses, I personally can vouch for the veracity of the use cases listed in the report. The use cases are high impact and high value to the businesses that have adopted them and the solution providers who have productised the solutions.

Interesting / informative twitter handles I follow in IoT space:

@MicrosoftIoT; @IOTSWC - This is the official handle of IoT Solutions World Congress; @CiscoIoT; @IoTHubANZ is a good handle to follow to keep track of happenings in IoT in Oceania; @IBMIoT; @VodafoneIoT; @iotforall; @EricssonIoT; @IoTNow_

Watch out: IoT Solutions World Congress is happening between 10-22nd May 2022.

Happy learning!