2021 has arrived with even higher expectations from organizations looking to leverage Internet of Things (IoT) technology. According to a recent IoT prediction, the value proposition of real-time data using IoT has been proven, and business leaders are now eager to move ahead with IoT solutions.

Innovative organizations know that IoT has the capacity of solving real, everyday problems. Far beyond technology for technology’s sake, IoT delivers practical results needed by enterprises poised to take leading roles in tomorrow’s marketplace.

Let’s look at some of the top IoT trends
1. Companies View IoT as the Key to Evolving in the Face of Industry Disruption
2. IoT Helps Companies Shift Their Focus from Products to Services
3. IoT is the Key to Unlocking New Customer Value
4. Innovators Look Beyond Vertical IoT Products
5. Companies will Increasingly Choose to Develop Their Own Unique IoT Solution
6. Out of Necessity, IoT Development Kits Will Grow in Popularity
7. True IoT Platform Solutions Will Evolve to Enable Adopters to Focus Upmarket

Service organizations across industry increasingly recognize that IoT can enable new forms of real-time services such as predictive maintenance to unlock new customer value from their existing customer base. Those service organizations that offer these advanced real-time services will quickly take leadership positions as they pivot their organizations. Service organizations that fail to offer these advanced real-time services will eventually stagnate, decline in value, and face the real possibility of going out of business.

IoT cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure and Google are in the process of extending their reach to the premises via MCUs that can facilitate customer-specific sensing and control functionality. The level of integration varies, but the intent becomes clear. The latest battleground between IoT cloud platforms revolves around control at the OS level of MCUs.

Business leaders have increased confidence in IoT. More and more organizations have skipped the IoT pilot phase in favor of initial implementations. For those that are convinced, the next leg of IoT has already begun. We expect these current IoT trends to distinguish the winners and losers in the growing IoT market.