As much as IoT is the buzzword of consumer electronics, it will quickly become a critical part of the electronics supply chain as companies use sensors to maximize efficiency of various business tasks and integrate that information into a strategic advantage.

In fact, by 2020, more than half of all new business processes and systems will incorporate some element of the Internet of Things (IoT), according to Gartner.

Much of the growth can be linked to the increasing affordability of sensor technology. “Uses of the IoT that were previously impractical will increasingly become practical,” said W. Roy Schulte, vice president and analyst at Gartner in a written statement. “The IoT is relevant in virtually every industry, although not in every application. There will be no purely 'IoT applications.' Rather, there will be many applications that leverage the IoT in some small or large aspect of their work. As a result, business analysts and developers of information-centric processes need to have the expertise and the tools to implement IoT aspects that play a role in their systems.”

The analyst predicts several trends for IoT:

• Through 2018, 75% of IoT projects will take up to twice as long as planned.  Especially in complex projects, schedule overruns will be common. Others will sacrifice performance to meet deadline demands.  Over time, this will translate into IoT projects being refactored, and even recalled and redeployed, the analyst predicts.
• By 2020, a black market exceeding $5 billion will exist to sell fake sensor and video data for enabling criminal activity and protecting personal privacy. The nature of IoT solutions and the methods of deployment will create security and privacy implications—and organizations will have to face them head on.
• By 2020, addressing compromises in IoT security will have increased security costs to 20% of annual security budgets, compared to less than 1% in 2015.   As IoT devices become more common across a variety of industries and in a variety of scenarios, managing security through the architecture, design, and implementation will become more complicated. The cost of security will grow along with these efforts. 

The infographic below from Lucas Blake outlines some of the realities of these trends. Take a look and let us know how you see IoT affecting your business in the next few years in the comments section below.