Throughout 2014, those of you in the tech industry began hearing more and more about the “Internet of Things”. The Internet of Things opens up fantastic new possibilities. It enables new services that were not possible before. These new opportunities in automation and tracking stand to revolutionize many industries. This includes healthcare, automotive, and information technology, among others.
However, we must also consider the ramifications of this new technology. This piece will not elaborate on the well known ethical problems around privacy and automation. The issue faced by the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT) is logistical: how do businesses keep up?
Processing Requirements of IoT
One of the primary concerns with the Internet of Things is keeping up with processing demands. An app developer may need to process data requests from millions of devices every second. Even businesses outside application development collect information from IoT enabled devices just to function. The minimum required computing power to do business these days is staggering compared to that of the previous decade.
For companies that still keep their IT work in-house, this represents a serious financial concern. How can a business keep up with an industry where constant innovation seems to demand competition?
Cloud Hosting Solutions
The advent of cloud computing over the past few years has stepped in to provide a solution for businesses. In-house server rooms must be maintained and upgraded periodically. The best approach is to shift these requirements to third-party specialists instead. The specialization of labor is one of the defining features of civilization. It makes perfect sense for a business specializing in home appliances, for example, to let a third-party cloud hosting firm handle server maintenance. This frees the business to focus on its core logistics.
The net result of this symbiosis is that each company can focus its revenue on doing what it does best. That means making a better product.
