Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Is the Internet of Things Good for your Business?

I'm sure the time is not far off when MBA programs will have course titles like this, and maybe even full-blown majors. I was still writing papers on typewriters when doing my MBA, so that tells you how much things have changed. Let's just say my POV is a bit different from the Millennials that I write so often about. I proudly cling to what we were weaned on back then, and am not shy to say it produces superior results to what people produce these days, but I can also see where they now have access to much richer tools, but how well they use them is another story.

If I'm baiting you into an exchange of opinions, bring it on! I love debating stuff like this, but with a purpose - I just think people are underachieving - more like overwhelmed - with all the apps and gadgets at their disposal.  I'll let that simmer for a bit, and steer you to my latest Rethinking Communications column for TMCnet's Internet Telephony Magazine.

I've been writing regularly about IoT and IoE, and after cloud, I think it's the next big frontier that will wash over everything we do - and eventually, think about. If you thinking I'm hinting at my favorite dystopian subext - 1984 - you're correct, but I'll stop talking now and hope you'll read my article. It's early days yet for IoT, but it's coming for sure, and the sooner you get it on your radar, the safer your future will be.

IoT is as much about what it can do for your business as what you cannot seem to do today without it. We're already drowning in data, and IoT will ramp this up by a few orders of magnitude, and unless you somehow get a handle on Big Data, IoT will kill your business. I'm being a bit dramatic here, but a lot of people underestimated the Internet, and the same for mobility. IoT is simply the next big thing, and sometime soon, those MBA grads you hire could be the saviors of your company - especially if they take my course, if only some school will come along and ask me to teach it!

No comments: