The number of IoT (Internet of Things) connected devices will grow 285 percent to 38.5 billion in 2020 from 13.4 billion in 2015, said Juniper Research.

Industrial and public services sector such as retail, agriculture, smart buildings and smart grid applications will form the majority of the device base.

Michelin and John Deere have transitioned their businesses towards being service based companies through the use of IoT, as opposed to their previous incarnations as product vendors.

Interoperability hurdles owing to conflicting standards continues to slow progress. Standards bodies and alliances are beginning to engage to overcome these hurdles.

The consumer segment including smart home, connected vehicles and digital healthcare represents a high ARPU market segment.

The industrial sector including retail, connected buildings and agriculture will enable high ROI through IoT projects.

Meanwhile, IoT is turning many manufacturers of things into first-time software vendors that need licensing and entitlement management (LEM) solutions, according to Gartner.

“We expect that by 2020, a failure to put in place a LEM system will result in a 20 percent drop in potential revenue generated from software for device manufacturers connecting to the IoT,” said Laurie Wurster, research director at Gartner.

The vast majority of device manufacturers do not have, or have yet to implement, commercial LEM systems to monetize the IoT.

Baburajan K
[email protected]