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Many of the issues preventing businesses embracing the Internet of Things (IoT) are close to being resolved, an expert has suggested.
According to Jim Poole, vice-president for global ecosystem development at Equinix, some firms have held off from adopting IoT-based systems due to concerns over privacy and security, as well as the cost of IoT infrastructure.
However, he believes these "key obstacles" will "soon be cleared", largely as a result of interconnection at the digital edge.
Writing in Network World, he said: "A single solution to IoT worries doesn’t exist, but IoT best practices involving interconnection are emerging that can mitigate some of the biggest concerns and keep the path clear for continued IoT innovation and application."
Mr Poole defined interconnection as private data exchange between businesses and said it is an "essential component of just about any IoT architecture".
Indeed, he stressed that IoT applications are not designed to function in silos, while the machine-to-machine communication at the heart of the IoT cannot be centralised.
"It flows from dispersed devices located anywhere," Mr Poole said.
"For all this information to have optimal, real-time value, it needs to be stored, handled and processed close to where it’s created, which is at the digital edge, where commerce, population centers and digital ecosystems meet.
"Interconnection enables proximity between users, IoT devices and cloud services at the digital edge."
This, he stated, means the data passing through every IoT application can be handled efficiently and securely.
Furthermore, he said interconnection gives businesses the ability to make direct, secure, close connections to the IoT sources and resources they need "to fully capitalise when the IoT’s big breakout switches from 'someday' to 'right now'".
Mr Poole went on to outline one of the key benefits that IoT-based technology offers - the fact that previously inaccessible data from across companies' operations can be gathered and used.
As a result, he is confident that "billions of once-mute objects" will be found to "have a lot to say", much of which could prove valuable to many businesses.
Mr Poole added that numerous pieces of research indicate that IoT adoption is set to rise in the coming years.
For instance, he noted that a Verizon study recently found that 73 per cent of executives are either researching or currently deploying IoT.
In addition, he flagged up a survey of business leaders by the Economist Intelligence Unit, which found that 55 per cent expect IoT-based systems to help them make internal cost savings over the next three years, as well as generate external revenue.
"The Internet of Things sometimes has the feel of a trend that’s forever going to be on the cusp of a huge breakout," Mr Poole observed.
"Figures fly around about the projected size of the IoT and they’re always massive."
However, he stressed that this widespread optimism and investment is not based on "pie-in-the-sky thinking".
