| Jeff Feldman, Associate Director Global Enterprise Data Solutions, Verizon |
With sensors and networking technology being strapped to nearly every machine around the globe at a blistering pace, estimates projecting 50 billion connected devices by 2020 may be too conservative.
Consider this scenario. Cities and municipalities want to control and monitor street lights remotely to save time, money and manpower. By monitoring the health and condition of street lights remotely, city workers aren't left with the task of checking each light, block by block, in order to identify a maintenance problem.
"By giving virtually every type of device the ability to communicate wirelessly, from ATMs and smart meters to street lights and connected cars, the Internet of Things (IoT) is at the vanguard of creating new business drivers for the manufacturing industry," said Jeff Feldman, Associate Director Global Enterprise Data Solutions at Verizon. "When we talk about the key benefits of deploying solutions such as logistics automation, remote monitoring and condition-based maintenance on connected machine-to-machine (m2m) technology, increasing operational efficiency is just the tip of the iceberg. It's also about improving decision making and accelerating response times which allows manufacturers across several industries to create new revenue streams and reach new customers in new markets and in new ways."
Feldman says that increasingly as manufacturers realize the benefits of wireless connectivity in order to improve communication with their devices to gain more robust data and analytics, that even greater emphasis will be placed on security and the cloud.
"Simply focusing on m2m in a vacuum as the wireless connection point for devices is no longer considered a best practice today, Feldman added. "As connected solutions continue to play a pivotal role in transforming our lives [whether it's the way we receive healthcare, interact with our financial institutions, maintain our homes, or travel from point A to point B in the car and in the air] it's imperative that manufacturers take an integrated approach by also including security and cloud as a necessary part of the equation to mitigate risk and realize new possibilities."
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