DCN September 2017 | Page 42

IOT & Big Data Come Together Chris Proctor, CEO of Oneserve, on why businesses need to take advantage of a combination of IoT and Big Data, and explains how the two entities together have the potential to transform business. T hose in business are acutely aware that to stay competitive in today’s markets you must be one step ahead of the curve in terms of technological adoption. When it comes to improving business operation efficiency, there are two technological movements that are sitting in the driving seat – Big Data and the Internet of Things (IoT). It would be wrong to ignore the fact there has been a lot of hype around these technologies and their potential impact on the future of business. However, Big Data and IoT working together do have an immense potential to transform the way business leaders gain insight into their customers and make key decisions about the future of the company. 42 | September 2017 While most are beginning to flirt with the idea of using Big Data and IoT, many businesses are still not choosing to take full advantage of what this ecosystem can offer. Ultimately this is hindering their own growth prospects in the long run. The link between IoT and Big Data One of the main reasons business leaders cite as to why they haven’t started fully utilising Big Data and IoT is that there is a lack of clarity on what these technologies are and how they link together. The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the network of physical ‘things’ that have been embedded with sensors and inter-connect via the internet. These ‘things’, also referred to as ‘smart’ or ‘connected’ devices, range from mobile devices to buildings and vehicles to manufacturing machines and collect and exchange vast amounts of data. Gartner has predicted that by 2020 there will be 20.4 billion connected things worldwide that make up the IoT. Businesses in particular are forecast to engage 3.1 billion of these devices and spending on IoT is set to make up over half (57%) of the overall spend on IoT in 2017, reaching $964 billion worldwide. The data collected by the myriad of connected devices is what is referred to as Big Data. The data sets collated are so large that historical methods used for data processing are simply inadequate. However, the sheer amount of