The Rise of Machine Data: Are you Prepared?

The Internet of Things
Fueling the big data phenomenon Millions of people rely on the Internet to socialize, collaborate and conduct business worldwide.

But these numbers are eclipsed by the multitudes of Internet connected objects - more than 10 billion wirelessly connected devices today, with over 30 billion devices expected by 2020.

This network of linked devices has the potential to transform the world, according to the Internet of Things (IoT) concept.

Coined at a time when email was cutting edge and many people were still figuring out how to use the Internet (famously pegged by the “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog” cartoon in the New Yorker), the IoT was conceived as a network of objects equipped with radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips and similar technologies so that the objects could communicate and interact with each another.

At first, proponents of IoT focused on its benefits to the retail sphere: how it could help improve inventory management, reduce waste and keep up with client demand.

Now, however, the thousands of sensors, monitors and other technologies in the IoT are leading to the rise of the machine: they generate huge volumes of data that is applicable to many other industries and a broad range of business activities.