By Fred Isbell, senior director and head of Thought Leadership – Digital Business Services Marketing, SAP
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a classic hype cycle phenomenon. Besides forecasts of high growth, it is capturing a large share of interest and overall mindshare. One thing is clear: The elements of the IoT are here to stay. Once we get past the definition of IoT, which is commonly referred as sensor-based devices and machine-to-machine communications, businesses can open themselves to enormous potential.
When trying to understand new things, I prefer to embrace them as a part of my daily life. When tablets first emerged, I didn’t go anywhere without my trusted iPad. In fact, I sometimes leave my laptop home knowing that I can do most of what I need on this device. And based on that experience, I took my own advice when it came to wearable technology recently – and the results were eye-opening. I’m now onto my second-generation wearable device, showcasing just how quickly this is all changing.
But first let’s jump into the time travel machine to February 2015. I was attending the MIT/Sloan School Sports and Analytics conference in Boston, and it seemed that everyone was mentioning wearable technology. The buzz was verified weeks later when I attended the IDC Directions Annual conference, where wearables made the short list of technology ubiquity. A year later, I returned to the MIT/Sloan School Sports and Analytics conference in Boston a little bit wiser. At that point, I invested in a Fitbit and started tracking my own personal statistics for exercise, sleep, and more. Needless to say, the geek in me was in full force as I wore both a Fitbit and a sports watch at the same time. I didn’t want to miss anything, and my middle-age eyes appreciated the help.
One of the benefits of working for a tech company is the opportunity to adopt new technology in every aspect of my life. My employer, SAP, kicked off a new wellness program, incorporating wearables in how its employees track their health and wellness. I took advantage of this opportunity, replacing my sports watch with a second-generation Fitbit and consolidating two devices into one.
My wearable journey is certainly not complete yet, but it’s become integrated into my life in a very nonintrusive way. Just as my tablet has become an extension of me, so has the wearable device. I even exchange screen shots of my results – such as when I rode my first charity JDRF bike ride over the summer – to friends so we celebrate our achievements.
Very soon, our interactions with the IoT and wearable will become the norm, and we won’t think twice about it. But at the same time, it’s becoming a big business. Market watcher CCS Insight sees this as a US$14 billion market growing to over US$40 billion by 2020. All of these devices will generate even more data, making Big Data bigger than anyone could have predicted.
All of that data will generate increased demand for applications – especially analytics – to understand, interpret, and use this information. And if you think about it, my Fitbit app on my phone is really a personal business intelligence tool and the ultimate example of the consumerization of IT.
Not surprisingly tech leaders, such as SAP, talk about the fusion of business to business (B2B) and business to consumer (B2B) into what some call “business to business to consumer” (B2B2C). The proliferation of wearable technology is a great example of this. The market for applications and solutions will increase exponentially – supported by cloud-based delivery and unprecedented demand for the infrastructure to deliver real-time intelligence and much more.
Wearables are indeed the new black as it becomes mainstream and part of society. I’ll come back shortly with a further discussion of how we can apply this technology in sports and analytics. In the interim, I need to head to the gym to get my 10,000 steps and the fitness equivalent to make my Fitbit – and me – happy!
Fred is the senior director and head of Thought Leadership for Digital Business Services Marketing at SAP.
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