The terms Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Everything (IoE) may sound similar, but they are two different concepts. However, the two concepts are. While IoT is all about interconnected devices or physical objects that can be accessed through the internet, IoE refers to the connection of people, business processes, things or devices, and data with the internet.
So, IoE is a broader concept that IoT and it encompasses people, processes, and things. There are basically four pillars of IoE – people, data, processes, and things. On the other hand, IoT is mainly concerned with things. IoT refers to connecting devices and objects to the internet and also to each other for establishing machine-to-machine (M2M) communications for better and intelligent decision-making.
The concept of IoE emerged at Cisco, which describes it as “the intelligent connection of people, process, data, and things.” According to Cisco, “IoE is bringing together people, process, data, and things to make networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before-turning information into actions that create new capabilities, richer experiences, and unprecedented economic opportunity for businesses, individuals, and countries.”
The basis of this concept is the idea that in the future, it will be possible to extend internet connections beyond the machines. With a greater access to data and opportunities for expanded networking, machines are likely to become more intelligent. In the future, IoE is likely to revitalize and transform industries and businesses at multiple levels such as business model, business processes, and business moment.
IoE is expected to boost the emergence of new business models that will change the way a particular business is carried out. For example, we all know that smart cars are going to revolutionize the automobile industry. By developing autonomous or driverless cars, IT Company like Google will not only enter the automobile industry but will also disrupt the current business practices of the industry.
Likewise, IoE will also make business processes more efficient. With IoE, it will be possible to get greater insights for better decision-making. Moreover, with the expansion of data sources, new type of information will be available for enterprises, which they can use to generate deeper insights on business processes.
The term, ‘business moment’ refers to the requirement to compete with speed and agility to keep pace with the speed of data generation. With millions of new objects and sensors, IoE will lead to the creation of huge volume of data. Therefore, businesses have to speed up and reinforce the process of collecting, analysing, storing, and leveraging data, in order to maintain their agility and competitiveness.
To sum up, IoE will present huge opportunities for growth. But, businesses will have to equip themselves to handle, store, and analyse a huge amount of data and for this, they have to reinvent themselves by investing more and more in R&D and the technology front.