Earlier this month, we noted that the Internet of Things (IoT) has changed the “boundaries” of the workplace, which makes managing enterprise data more complex. From smart homes and connected cars to medical monitoring devices and manufacturing equipment, IoT offers many advantages for businesses, cities and consumers.
Lot of hype, less uptake
Just a few years ago, you might have seen a high-flying prediction of 50 billion connected devices by 2020. The number is nowhere near that, and Gartner even cut its 2020 forecast to 20.4 billion devices, down 5 billion from its’ 2014 projection. Similarly, McKinsey&Company sees slow business adoption and no large-scale implementations in flight – basically real-time data gathering from sensors and proofs of concept (PoCs) are the order of the day.
Are you at risk as an IoT early adopter?
Gartner expects to see about 3 billion IoT devices in business this year with continuing growth. But with no prevalent IoT cybersecurity standards in place, vulnerability exists. And it presents a real threat to your business. Consider this: In 2014, HP found 70% of IoT devices were vulnerable and a report last month says half of companies have been the target of an IoT attack.
Last year, we interviewed Office 365 IT pros and learned that many work in digital for “all the cool and new ideas” technology brings, including implementing IoT. In the early stage of adoption, it’s important to consider business objectives, data gathering and analysis mechanisms, storage and computation needs, as well as process modifications. Basic security hygiene is paramount, but additional precaution is required to ensure integrated scalable security for a proliferation of IoT devices and apps.
If you have begun incorporating IoT, let us know how it’s going. What are you seeing? What challenges do you face without firm standards in place?
