By Rich Severson, Stratodesk

2020 Predictions for the Internet of Things

In a VMblog article published last year, Stratodesk CEO and Founder, Emanuel Pirker, predicted that IoT devices would become increasingly commonplace in the workplace. We also predicted that these devices would effectively converge with VDI and Cloud infrastructure in order to solve complementary use cases, making getting your work done easier than ever before. This did in fact occur, with more and more IoT devices being used by the enterprise than ever before.

In 2020, however, we will see a new trend emerge and gain in momentum and strength. That trend is the internet of things devices being used beyond the workplace to solve an unimaginable number of challenges. In particular, IoT will innovate manufacturing processes, and fill a wide number of challenges facing industry. Ultimately, IoT interoperability will increase ROI for businesses by driving down costs, and insuring more efficient use of data to increase business productivity.

IoT Will Go Beyond the Workplace

Smart workplace devices are all the rage. But as we head into the 2020s, IoT will become increasingly common beyond the workplace and across every level and application of industry. It will be used by IT in farming, manufacturing, construction, city engineering, healthcare and beyond to solve increasingly complex and creative use cases.

However, as these innovations are deployed to solve challenges, they will, inevitably, create even more challenges. For example, security threats will arise even as IoT use reaches its zenith, management concerns will plague organizations, and countless IT resources will be directed towards ensuring the security and productivity of IoT deployments worldwide.

Needless to say, the advent of IIoT will come with its fair share of challenges and benefits.

Examples of "Surprising" IoT Solutions that Will Become Mainstream

You may not know this now, but in 2020, these "surprising" or "exciting" IoT use cases will become mainstream. In farming, for example,  IIoT can help farmers take better, more efficient care of crops. Soon, farmers could very likely take advantage of data in order to more accurately measure and monitor water/fertilizer for individual plants.

IoT can and will be used to create smarter cities. This is incredibly important for city life in the long term, as many experts expect the numbers of urban dwellers to only grow not only in the 2020s but in the decades to come. Having smarter cities powered by IoT will not only be a handy bonus - they will soon become a necessity in order to enable better and smoother traffic flow, enabling "smart parking", street lighting, better and more efficient public transportation and beyond.

Smart IoT devices and IoT gateways will play a major role in how technology shapes the city of the future.

Healthcare IoT (Internet of Medical Things) Will Save Lives

Healthcare IoT, or IoMT (internet of medical things), gathers important data for providers and helps with data management. These IoMT machines have the potential to be able to more accurately record and tag data than is currently possible.

Second, these machines can deploy AI in order to better fight serious medical conditions like Cancer. How does it do this? Certain forms of Cancer can go undetected for some time before a doctor even notices. By the time he does notice, it is often too late. IoMT devices, however, have the potential to detect such cancers before they grow out of control.

Lastly, IoMT could play a big role in reducing overhead costs. Healthcare providers and organizations already know the high costs associated with business operations, IT, and patient care. Patient care that can be automated and done by machines is labor and expenditure not accrued by the organization.

Challenges Facing IIoT

As you can see, IoT will be used in a vast variety of ways to make life better. But there are still some major challenges standing in the way of a better tomorrow. As IoT rolls out through every industry, these challenges will simply become ever more prevalent.

The top concerns for IoT deployments in 2020 will be:

➢    Poorly designed systems and implementations

➢    Scattered operating systems and protocols adding overcomplexity

➢    Lack of ability to manage, configure and maintain IIoT devices

➢    Inability to secure endpoint devices

➢    IIoT is so new and uncharted grounds

Among these challenges, IoT device security and manageability will be the absolute biggest challenge in 2020. As more and more devices become connected to the Cloud, the potential and opportunity for vicious attacks will grow. Additionally, what happens if a device is tampered with, damaged, or destroyed? How does IT ensure that it does not expose vital information?

There is, however, an easy way to combat new security challenges. Take, for example, how the French-based organization, Evreux Portes de Normandie, is using a combination of Stratodesk software with Raspberry Pis and Lenovo Desktops to make it easy for citizens to securely access gifts and services via touch screen and citizen cards.

When Combined with The Right Solution, IIoT Benefits Quickly Compound

Although there are certainly significant challenges facing any IIoT deployment, having an advanced OS and management solution can not only nullify these challenges but quickly cause benefits to greatly increase. These benefits include improved connectivity, efficiency, scalability, time savings, and cost savings.

In fact, companies are already benefiting from the Industry Internet of Things through cost savings stemming from: predictive maintenance, improved safety, and other operational efficiencies.

It also enables industrial organizations to break open data silos and connect all of their people, data, and processes. Meanwhile, business leaders can use IIoT data to get a full and accurate view of how their enterprise is doing. This allows leadership to make better and more informed decisions.

IoT Devices Can Be Managed by Stratodesk Software

In reality, Stratodesk software is fully capable of managing Pi devices no matter where they are on the edge. We can also do this with the new IoT Gateway device available from Compulab the fitlet2 or ComfilePi -both IoT edge devices intended to solve advanced use cases in industry. Stratodesk software is already proven to power Raspberry Pi devices. Additionally, virtually any IoT device that runs in an organization can be managed by Stratodesk software.

For this reason, 2020 is the year that Stratodesk IoT endpoint management extends far beyond the workplace to solve an ever farther reaching number of business challenges facing an ever broadening number of industries. Here's to 2020!

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About the Author

Rich Severson has been a member of the server based and end user computing industry for more than twenty years. Outside of work, he spends most of his time with his family enjoying the benefits of the exciting music scene in Nashville, TN. Learn more about him on our blog.