IoT no longer just a toy for businesses, says Gartner

Smart buildings, automotive and healthcare among the hot niches for the channel, analyst says as it forecasts IoT device install base will rise 31 per cent to 8.4 billion this year

The Internet of Things (IoT) is "not just a toy anymore" for businesses, according to Gartner, which has pinpointed smart buildings, automotive and healthcare as prime IoT niches resellers should target.

Talking to CRN, Gartner research vice president Bettina Tratz-Ryan argued that the analyst's latest data demonstrates that IoT is gaining traction in the enterprise space.

Some 8.4 billion connected things will be in use globally in 2017, a 31 per cent hike from last year, Gartner predicted.

Splitting that out, the analyst predicted the IoT install base among businesses will hit 3.1 billion IoT devices this year, a 30 per cent hike on 2016, while the number in circulation in the consumer market will rise 32 per cent to 5.2 billion.

Total spending on IoT end-points and services will reach almost $2tn (£1.6btn) in 2017, it added.

"The numbers show that we are seeing a lot of momentum, especially when it comes to real-time manufacturing and the increases in electric metering for smart grids," Tratz-Ryan said.

"It really shows that there is a dire need for business processes to get better data for organisations to understand what is happening on their manufacturing floors and within critical infrastructure.

"It's not just a toy anymore, but is really starting to gain traction."

Gartner splits the business IoT market into vertical-specific devices - such as smart meters, manufacturing field devices and real-time location devices for healthcare - and cross-industry devices, such as those targeted at smart buildings.

While currently smaller, this latter category, which includes LED lighting and physical security systems, will take the lead over the next three years, Gartner predicted. By 2020, the install base for cross-industry IoT units will have reached 4.4 billion, compared with 3.2 billion for vertical-specific units, it said.

Tratz-Ryan said cross-industry environments will offer the channel the most lucrative niche in the coming years.

"If you look at smart buildings and smart cities, there is a lot of opportunity to look at how to relieve the complexity of infrastructure," she said. "So LED lighting maintenance in smart buildings will definitely be one [hot niche]. The other part is automotive - there are a lot of opportunities in automotive and automotive services and applications that require IoT - plus healthcare."

By region, North America, Western Europe and Greater China currently dominate the IoT market and are set to represent 67 per cent of the install base this year, Gartner said.

Cutting council waste

Rob Bardwell, managing director of Pinacl, said the Wales-based systems integrator has already seen success in designing and deploying IoT solutions, particularly among local councils looking to do "more for less".

"Where we are working at the moment is specifically with councils, looking at air pollution, waste, traffic control, parking spaces - a myriad of things that will sit on one network," he said.

"It's about taking the censor information and gathering that data to make intelligent decisions to drive efficiencies.

"The other area we are looking at is control of high-value goods. For instance, for a building site with high-value goods on the site, we can build a network that would have a mobile SIM in it and you can track those goods onsite."

This second concept could also work well for hospitals, Bardwell said.

"Hospital beds all look the same, but some - orthopaedic beds and the like - are very costly and they move between departments and get lost," he said. "We've got a couple of hospitals with wireless LAN in, but IoT networks - because of the relative cheap cost and coverage - would be a better solution for that."