Recent winner of ITExpo’s “Most Innovative Product” award, ThingWorx is a forward-looking platform driving progress in the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications. To discuss the future of this rapidly evolving field, we spoke with Ken Forster, Head of EMEA at ThingWorx.
Like LTE in wireless networks, IoT and M2M are experiencing a long-term evolution—continually adapting to new use cases and higher expectations. Customers now expect social, mobile, collaborative, and search-driven experiences from IoT and M2M solutions. These expectations mean that solutions can no longer be limited to narrow, single-purpose applications developed with low-level programming. Instead, applications must be built on dynamic, horizontal “connected application platforms” that integrate data, activities, and events from people, systems, and smart connected things.
ThingWorx exemplifies this platform approach. By providing tools and a framework that streamline development, ThingWorx claims developers can achieve up to 10x less development effort while scaling to meet the demands of the IoT era. The company estimates that 50 billion smart connected things will require millions of connected applications, underscoring the need to rethink traditional software development and eliminate barriers to application delivery in the M2M/IoT space.
Research firm Gartner places the Internet of Things at the “Peak of Inflated Expectations” in its Hype Cycle, which highlights both the promise and the early-stage nature of the technology. Because IoT is still maturing, the industry lacks a unified vocabulary and consistent definitions. This ambiguity—combined with a flood of vendors—has created confusion among end customers. Ken observes that a common language and clearer messaging would improve adoption: using terminology that means different things to different audiences only slows progress.
Ken believes there will not be a single “best” implementation approach. The IoT ecosystem is inherently heterogeneous, with diverse devices, sensors, and connectivity options. The right strategy is to leverage connectivity platforms that are broadly flexible, supporting multiple communication methods and device types so solutions can adapt to real-world diversity.
The term “Smart Cities” frequently appears in media coverage of IoT and M2M, often portraying a near-utopian vision of urban systems operating autonomously. While such visions are compelling, Ken emphasizes the importance of focusing on the real value of IoT: transforming raw device data into actionable business insights. For too long, attention has centered on making devices smarter and capturing data. The true benefit lies in converting that data into information that drives better decisions, improves services, reduces costs, and creates new revenue models.
Almost every industry stands to benefit from effective IoT implementations, but initial focus areas are concentrated where value is clear and adoption is practical. ThingWorx groups IoT and M2M industries into three broad categories:
- Smart Sensors & Devices—examples include smart agriculture, smart cities, environmental monitoring, and infrastructure management.
- Connected Products—examples include medical devices and consumer appliances.
- Connected Industries—examples include oil and gas, manufacturing, food and beverage, and mining.
Some specific use cases emerging today include smart agriculture and signage in the connected products space, point-of-care medical devices, and industrial applications such as heavy equipment monitoring and mining operations. Each of these areas demonstrates different priorities: remote monitoring and control, preventative maintenance, operational efficiency, or new service offerings based on usage data.
Healthcare and medical devices present both great promise and significant challenges. In regulated, safety-critical environments, providers often prefer established, proven methods. Ken explains that connected medical devices can reduce human error and enable new value-added services that benefit both patients and manufacturers—such as usage-based billing and remote service management. Connectivity also enables preventative maintenance and operational efficiencies that help manufacturers reduce downtime and improve device performance.
Overall, the future of M2M and IoT is rich with potential. Platforms like ThingWorx are positioning themselves as enablers of this connected future by providing flexible connectivity, rapid application enablement, and integration with enterprise systems. Key platform capabilities include:
- Support for connectivity across device classes, either directly or via device networks, cloud services, or device management platforms.
- An easy-to-use rapid enablement environment with semantic modeling, codeless user interface tools, and built-in analytics—deployable on-premise, in the cloud, embedded, or as hybrid solutions.
- An extensible architecture that integrates with back-office enterprise applications and supports collaborative, social, and mobile web services.
ThingWorx also benefits from a partner ecosystem, helping ensure that solutions built on the platform integrate with leading technology vendors across the IoT landscape. This collaborative approach helps organizations adopt best-of-breed components while accelerating time to value.
What does the future hold for IoT and M2M? Continued innovation across industries, broader adoption of flexible connectivity platforms, and a shift in emphasis from collecting data to extracting actionable insights appear likely. As companies learn to turn telemetry and device events into business outcomes, IoT deployments will move from pilot projects to mission-critical systems that deliver measurable ROI.
Ken Forster will be speaking at Telecoms Tech World and serving as a judge for the M2M Hackfest. He looks forward to seeing creative IoT solutions and discussing opportunities, partnerships, and challenges in the IoT and M2M space—topics that align with ThingWorx’s role as an application platform for the connected world.