Is Internet of Things the future of the cloud?

The Internet of Things (IoT) includes any form of technology that can connect to the internet: smartphones, TVs, various sensors, robots, fitness and medical equipment, ATMs,  wearables, and much more than this. Just imagine, lawn sensors that tell a sprinkler when a lawn needs to be watered and how much water is needed based on moisture levels; running shoes that clock your pace ─ and notify you when you’ve run so much that it’s time to replace your shoes; and refrigerators that let you know when food products are reaching their expiration date.

The size of the internet of things’ market is immense. According to research firm IDC, the global market was already worth $1.9 trillion last year. And this numbers will grow greatly in the coming years.

Networking and cloud computing are the key factors that make the IoT possible and help to create a special IoT ecosystem.  In fact, with so much data flowing in from potentially millions of different connected objects, the cloud is likely the only platform suitable for filtering, analyzing, storing and accessing all that information in useful ways.  Cloud is accessible from anywhere and from any device. So ,the more devices are  connected, the greater the use of public cloud services will be.

Here are some thoughts in which direction the cloud will be developing next years:

Special-purpose clouds may appear that will focus specifically on connecting devices and machines. So in the coming years, we’ll see increased focus on the software and especially the cloud services to make all sensors connect, process immense volume of data received from the devices, strong analytical tools and systems that generate insights and enable business improvements.

Also we should not forget about information security, privacy and protection. Most consumer IoT services rely on the public cloud as a key enabling technology, where the security of the data cannot be guaranteed.  People will resist the ubiquitous free flow of information if there is no public confidence that it will not cause serious threats to privacy. In the next years we may see the rise of new tools that will prevent information leakage and will provide security to consumers` information in the cloud.

Just a couple years ago cloud computing was just a buzz word and now it plays an important role in the IT world. Nevertheless the IoT global market is still at its infancy, it`s highly probable that in a couple of years IoT will become inseparable part of our lives. It will dramatically change the way we live our daily lives and what information is stored about us. How do you believe the cloud might evolve as the IOT does?