Information technology research and advisory company, 451 Research has determined that cellular Internet of Things (IoT) and machine to machine (M2M) connections will increase nearly fourfold globally from 252 million in 2014 to 908 million in 2019. A monumental increase in active cellular IoT/M2M connections will be driven by a number of key factors.

First, hardware and bandwidth costs have dropped to a point where nearly every enterprise can reap the benefits of virtualizing the physical world. Second, cloud-based middleware and data platforms are making it easier to securely generate insights from machine data at greater scale than ever before possible. Last, the buzz around this topic is generating overall awareness of the transformational potential of IoT/M2M in terms of ROI, competitiveness and support of completely new business models. The building excitement about what is possible has generated a massive amount of M&A activity to support position taking for the next decade of IoT-driven business transformation.  

The latest 451 Research data report shows that connected passenger vehicles and connected energy will pace the market in terms of connection volume while emerging solutions such as 'pay as you drive' insurance will grow the fastest. 

“We continue to be bullish that ultimately the hype of IoT will be proven to be warranted back on business impact,” said Brian Partridge, Research Vice President. “Over the forecast period we expect that M2M/IoT solution suppliers will find fertile ground in vertical markets such as retail and government that will adopt IoT/M2M to enable strategic digitization strategies such as smart cities and the use of digital signage, mobile point of sale, and connected kiosks to drive the transformation from brick and mortar to ʻclick and mortarʼ.”

Also falling under the theme of IoT, 451 has also released a new long form report titled “Time for Work: Smart Watch App Development Turns to the Enterprise” authored by 451 Enterprise Mobility analysts Ryan Martin and Chris Hazelton.  Key findings  in the report, backed by recent 451 IT Decision Maker survey results, showed 39% of US IT decision-makers at companies that use or plan to use wearable technologies will deploy solutions in the next six months; 24% plan to deploy in the next 12 months. In addition, 81% of US IT decision-makers who say their company plans to deploy wearables in the next six months will favor smart watches.

“The release of Apple Watch has opened the flood gates governing wearables’ adoption,” said Ryan Martin, Analyst, IoT and Wearable Technologies. “But now that the river is running, it’s less about where it will end and more about where – and when – to start.  We expect wearable technology to deliver a key interface and input into the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Wearables have the potential to become an interface – if not the interface – for IIoT access."

About Internet of Things

As defined by 451 Research, IoT is the interconnected set of intelligent devices, objects and wearables designed specifically to enable the virtualization of the physical world.  These devices create new value, services and perspectives through sharing and thorough analysis of M2M data. 451 Research will hold a webinar, Navigating the Internet of Everything, to discuss key developments across the IoT ecosystem including areas of innovation in IoT security, connectivity architecture, the role of cloud, APIs, middleware and data management platforms. Click here to register for the webinar, taking place on Tuesday, June 16, from 12:00pm-1:00pm EDT.

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