With over seven years of experience as a freelance technology writer and reporter, Tim Keary has a range of experience breaking down complex technologies into simple and accessible content. His work has been featured in Forbes Advisor, Techopedia and.
Tim Keary Small Business and Technology WriterWith over seven years of experience as a freelance technology writer and reporter, Tim Keary has a range of experience breaking down complex technologies into simple and accessible content. His work has been featured in Forbes Advisor, Techopedia and.
Written By Tim Keary Small Business and Technology WriterWith over seven years of experience as a freelance technology writer and reporter, Tim Keary has a range of experience breaking down complex technologies into simple and accessible content. His work has been featured in Forbes Advisor, Techopedia and.
Tim Keary Small Business and Technology WriterWith over seven years of experience as a freelance technology writer and reporter, Tim Keary has a range of experience breaking down complex technologies into simple and accessible content. His work has been featured in Forbes Advisor, Techopedia and.
Small Business and Technology Writer Kiran Aditham Deputy EditorWith 20 years of experience, Kiran Aditham has navigated the field in editorial and writing, from working with major pubs like Adweek, AdAge and PSFK to now working at Forbes Advisor.
Kiran Aditham Deputy EditorWith 20 years of experience, Kiran Aditham has navigated the field in editorial and writing, from working with major pubs like Adweek, AdAge and PSFK to now working at Forbes Advisor.
Kiran Aditham Deputy EditorWith 20 years of experience, Kiran Aditham has navigated the field in editorial and writing, from working with major pubs like Adweek, AdAge and PSFK to now working at Forbes Advisor.
Kiran Aditham Deputy EditorWith 20 years of experience, Kiran Aditham has navigated the field in editorial and writing, from working with major pubs like Adweek, AdAge and PSFK to now working at Forbes Advisor.
Updated: Jun 4, 2024, 11:00am
Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.
Getty
The Internet of Things (IoT) has become one of the most transformative technologies of the past decade, giving birth to both the smart home and the smart office. In fact, in 2024, the global IoT market is expected to reach a staggering $1,387.00 billion in revenue. But what is IoT, and why is it drawing so much interest?
The Internet of Things, or IoT, is the name given to a network of devices that can connect to the internet and exchange data, both with other IoT-enabled devices and centralized cloud servers.
Types of IoT devices available on the market include all devices and digital appliances that can connect to the internet and exchange data, such as virtual home assistants, smartwatches, wearables, drones, lights, baby monitors and home appliances.
Some of the most well-known consumer examples of IoT devices include Amazon Alexa, Google Home, the Apple Watch and Ring. According to Statista, there are 17.08 billion connected IoT devices as of 2024.
Many IoT devices use physical sensors to collect data on their local environment, and can be interacted with remotely by users. For example, IoT-enabled light systems can measure the brightness and intensity of local lighting, and increase or decrease this value based on user input.
IoT devices will forward locally collected data to an IoT gateway, a central hub that will forward this data to a cloud server where it can be processed via a SaaS app. For instance, a logistics provider might use a data analytics app to measure how many orders were fulfilled on time.
The IoT is important because it unlocks new capabilities in both consumer and enterprise environments.
In home environments, consumers can use IoT-enabled smart devices to change their home lighting, adjust the temperature, interact with kitchen appliances, turn on the radio, see who’s at the front door, open the garage and check their heart health via a smartwatch remotely.
In business environments, there are three main reasons for their importance. These are as follows:
First and foremost, IoT devices provide organizations with the ability to collect and process data from devices at the edge of a network. This data can be used to generate new insights into a company’s operations, which can be used to enhance its decision making by highlighting ways that these processes could be optimized or improved.
For example, IoT devices can be used to monitor stock in real time, giving a business an opportunity to see when goods need to be restocked. Likewise, an organization can monitor physical equipment to see when it requires maintenance.
Using IoT-enabled devices also provides new opportunities to automate manual tasks, or at the very least, to interact with infrastructure remotely. Automating tedious manual processes enables human workers to complete their responsibilities faster.
If an organization is using IoT devices to track the stock of physical goods, then human employees don’t need to check stock manually, because they can check a centralized cloud solution to view this information.
Finally, these benefits in efficiency can help to reduce costs for the business as a whole. Collecting and processing data in real time gives organizations the feedback and insights they need to continuously improve their efficiency. This means that a company has ample opportunity to become more cost-effective over time.
There are some significant pros and cons to consider when adopting IoT technology, which include:
There are a number of technologies that hold up IoT devices. At a high level, this includes:
There are a wide range of IoT applications across different industries. These include:
One of the most promising areas where IoT devices are used is within healthcare. With IoT devices, doctors and medical providers can monitor patient conditions remotely.
For instance, a doctor can give a patient a wearable that measures their heart rate or blood pressure to help identify health conditions and improve treatment options. They can also help to alert doctors when a patient’s condition has deteriorated and prompt emergency care.
IoT devices can also be used in hospitals to assist with inventory management, helping to monitor the location and availability of medication and equipment that’s used to help treat patients.
Another key use case for IoT devices is in the manufacturing industry, where they can be used to monitor the performance of machines, track the location of assets in real time, identify equipment failure, conduct predictive maintenance, monitor inventory and provide insights on how to improve overall efficiency.
For example, if IoT is used to monitor equipment status, sensors on the local device can measure local conditions and assess whether the machine is operating at peak performance. If it’s not working as intended, the device can issue an alert so that the manufacturer can conduct maintenance, remove it from operation or replace it.
Finally, in retail environments, IoT devices such as RFID sensors and smart tags can be used to track and manage store inventory in real time. This enables vendors to optimize their stock more effectively and make sure that they always have the inventory available necessary to meet customer demand.
Retailers can also use IoT devices to gather information on customer activity, to unlock insights into what type of products they’ve purchased in the past, and what they’re most likely to purchase in the future.
IoT devices have the power to transform how consumers and enterprises interact with their local environment. Simply by connecting everyday devices to the internet, users have access to a range of insights, data and interactions that they wouldn’t have had access to in a more traditional IT environment.
Having real-time visibility and control over devices helps to improve consumers’ lives while making organizations function more efficiently. Ultimately, this visibility opens the door to significant opportunities for growth and continuous improvement.
An example of the IoT in action can be seen in a smart home environment. For example, a user uses apps on a personal device such as a smartphone or smartwatch to interact with devices connected to the internet, such as lights, thermostats, home appliances and more, from a single location. These devices are all connected to the internet and can be accessed and controlled centrally without needing to go and manually interact with each device.
The main idea behind the Internet of Things is to connect disparate physical devices to the internet, so they can share data with each other and a centralized cloud server. Connecting these devices to the internet means that users can interact with these devices remotely and process the data they’ve generated locally, to unlock new insights into their environment.
The Internet of Things is the name given to the network of physical devices that can connect to the internet and share data with each other.
Was this article helpful? Share your feedback Send feedback to the editorial team Thank You for your feedback! Something went wrong. Please try again later. Buying Guides
By Natalie Cusson
By Leeron Hoory
By Kimberlee Leonard
By Monique Danao
By Kimberlee Leonard
By Shweta
Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circumstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
Forbes Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by our partners.
Small Business and Technology WriterWith over seven years of experience as a freelance technology writer and reporter, Tim Keary has a range of experience breaking down complex technologies into simple and accessible content. His work has been featured in Forbes Advisor, Techopedia and VentureBeat.
© 2024 Forbes Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Are you sure you want to rest your choices?The Forbes Advisor editorial team is independent and objective. To help support our reporting work, and to continue our ability to provide this content for free to our readers, we receive compensation from the companies that advertise on the Forbes Advisor site. This compensation comes from two main sources. First, we provide paid placements to advertisers to present their offers. The compensation we receive for those placements affects how and where advertisers’ offers appear on the site. This site does not include all companies or products available within the market. Second, we also include links to advertisers’ offers in some of our articles; these “affiliate links” may generate income for our site when you click on them. The compensation we receive from advertisers does not influence the recommendations or advice our editorial team provides in our articles or otherwise impact any of the editorial content on Forbes Advisor. While we work hard to provide accurate and up to date information that we think you will find relevant, Forbes Advisor does not and cannot guarantee that any information provided is complete and makes no representations or warranties in connection thereto, nor to the accuracy or applicability thereof. Here is a list of our partners who offer products that we have affiliate links for.
