Time to Prioritize Big Data and IoT

The growth in the Internet of Things (IoT) is fueling technological advances – creating opportunities across industries for businesses to develop countless creative products and services. While increasing numbers of things are being created with Wi-Fi capabilities, broadband internet is becoming more easily accessible, making not only the possibility of technological growth endless but the amount of data being produced vast.

This data is coming from sources as simple as your phone giving you directions or as complex as self-driving cars. Studies showed that in 2008, more objects were already connected to the internet than there were people. This trend has only escalated in the years since.  In fact, Gartner forecasts that 6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016, up 30 percent from 2015, and will reach 20.8 billion by 2020. IoT is growing fast, producing limitless opportunities for businesses to leverage this data.

Moving forward, everything that can be connected, in fact, will be. In 2013, research showed only .06% of objects that could be connected actually was. Gartner predicts that in 2016, 5.5 million new things will be connected every day. Just imagine the data possibilities.  Gartner has also given some interesting predictions of the impact and what the IoT will look like in the very near future;

• By 2020 there will be 26 billion connected devices.
• By 2020, 90% of vehicles will be connected, compared to 10% in 2012.
• Spending on new IoT hardware will exceed 2.5 million per minute.
• By 2021 one million devices will be purchased and installed every hour.
• By 2018 two million employees will be required to wear health and fitness tracking devices.
• It is believed that by 2017, at least 82% of businesses will somehow be connected.

With this whole new world of raw data being produced, the question is – how can you leverage it? Today, most businesses don’t have a data strategy. Now is the time for businesses to find a way to track, store, and analyze this information so they can deliver better experiences to their customers and strengthen their competitive advantage.

Big Data is a term used to describe the exponential growth, availability, and use of structured and unstructured information. Big data has the potential to make your business more agile, answer questions that were once considered beyond your reach, and power business decisions in virtually real time.

Here at QAT Global, we can help you turn your big data into actionable knowledge, creating understanding and insight to give your business the competitive advantage. We combined our expertise in business analytics and information management to help your organization get the best use of big data, so you can excel.

Let’s discuss the future of big data and your business. Start the conversation today.