In this week's news roundup for IT pros we bring you articles on the barriers standing in the way of both the Internet of Things and digital transformation.
Lessons learned from IoT's early adopters
The Internet of Things seems to be increasingly moving out of the “future” plans of businesses across industries and into the here and now. This week InformationWeek reported that federal government spending on IoT technology has grown 20 percent year-over-year, reaching $8.8 billion in 2015. In other areas, an article in ComputerWorld highlights early adoption of IoT benefiting manufacturing and logistics to smart cities and agriculture. Contributing writer Howard Baldwin offers up four lessons learned from those early pioneers. Key takeaways: prepare for an influx of data, get ready for tighter collaboration between operations and IT, and expect setbacks and bumps in the road.
One of those potential setbacks? The “current centralized, cloud-based model powering IoT systems,” according to an article this week by Ben Dickson in TechCrunch. Dickson argues that the cloud model is not ideal in time-critical scenarios or areas of poor Internet connectivity. Further, “having every device connected to the cloud and sending raw data over the internet can have privacy, security and legal implications, especially when dealing with sensitive data that is subject to separate regulations in different countries.” He predicts that fog computing with grow in importance and usage as IoT adoption expands and provides insights into its benefits.
Digital transformation roadblocks
Speaking of setbacks, a recent MIT Sloan Management Review study found that while 87 percent of respondents to their survey believe that digital disruption will impact their industry, “only 44 percent think their organizations are adequately preparing for it.” Because of this gap, the research suggests that, “30 percent of senior vice presidents, vice presidents, and director-level executives who don’t have adequate access to resources and opportunities to develop and thrive in a digital environment are planning to leave their company in less than one year.”
Organizations stuck in their digital transformation efforts could take away learnings from an article in Information Age this week that outlined the “four intelligent elements that form the basis of a rewarding relationship with digital.”
More news for CIOs
IT contractors and the future of tech jobs: What you need to know [ZDNet]
Report: CIOs are the driving force behind enterprise cloud adoption [Silicon Angle]
DevOps security requires new mindset and tools for visibility, automation [TechTarget]
