Perhaps an unlikely source for a top-level intro to the Internet of Things, but Goldman Sachs provide a fairly serviceable “IOT 101”, describing it, in a not very understated way as the next Mega Trend.
The report does however, correctly pull together all the key technology advances that have allowed this ecosystem to come to being, as well as provide an overview of all the key verticals. Of more direct interest to the general Goldman Sachs readership are the main beneficiaries of this trend, which are listed as being (quite predictably) manufacturers of sensors and microcontrollers, enterprise software vendors who successfully target a specific industry or segment, big data specialists, and whoever manages to push a successful platform for consumer applications. One claim however stands out – the statement that IoT can reduce home energy consumption by 40%. Not much substantiation is provided, and is something worth investigating further