We are in the middle of digital transformation and the industry 4.0 revolution. From manufacturing and mining to utilities, numerous companies are embracing the Internet of Things technology for its undeniable business benefits. According to a survey carried out by Forbes Insights, 90% of the 500 executives envision a promising future for their companies with IoT.

Accenture estimates that Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) could add $14.2 trillion to the global economy by 2030; accounting for the highest share in the global IoT spending. Let’s have a look at how IIoT will be performing in the months ahead:

‘Smart’ decisions

We've reached a turning point pertaining to the affordability and accessibility of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). The months ahead will observe a surge in facilities making the move to the cloud as prices drop and capabilities increase. More devices will be set up for edge processing, with reworked and improved IT policies to support Fog Computing and new SaaS offerings. This will result in quick and accurate data-driven decisions. Real-time and historical machine data will become the basis for decisions, rather than merely depending on past experiences.

Read More: Digital Twin Technology And Its Benefits to Businesses

Mass migrations to the cloud by factories and facilities

Packaged software and on-premises systems, contrary to remote facilities such as cloud-based data processing, are likely to become outmoded as the data size transcends on-premises models.

A fluid balance of cloud computing and fog computing can be a boon to effectively manage the IT environment where partial computing occurs at the edge on devices in the field and partial in the cloud. Initial raw data will be sorted out in the field, modified data with anomalies will be led to the cloud for analysis, and on-prem systems will provide consistent and uninterrupted insights on system health to highlight potential areas for improvement.

Read More: Top 5 Cloud Trends from Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2018 [Infographic]

Risk awareness and security will evolve along with connected industry

Last year observed an increase in cyber-attacks. Being a new technology, IIoT offers a new attack surface but it’s not inherently unsafe. Instead, the problem exists in the fact that IIoT presents a type of risk entirely unique in its kind which involves a new way of thinking and awareness. Cloud computing can be the best line of defense because cyber security experts that are constantly searching for vulnerabilities, and fixing them immediately are a part of the best practices used by third-party cloud applications.

The developers of these new IIoT technologies and those facilities putting them to use may need to examine security protocols around sensor-to-sensor communication, sensor-to-gateway communication, and system updates and maintenance. Regardless of where the data is stored, it will have to be treated in a secure manner.

Explore real-life IIoT solutions in our case studies here. Contact us to design an IIoT platform customized to your requirements.