IoT and the Hype Cycle – how are we doing with that?

Gartner’s Hype Cycle illustrates the journey of new technologies. With many technologies following a similar path, from “overinflated” expectation and disillusion, to adoption and productive use, the spot in this Hype Cycle gives some direction for decisions about when to step in. Too early could mean experiencing the risks and challenges of early adopters, with disappointment or disruptive success. Too late could mean loss of market share to competitors.

So where is IoT on this cycle? As IoT is driven by uses cases, the answer differs per application and sector. However, trends in many sectors show that IoT has passed the early, turbulent phases of the cycle. IoT is starting to become an accepted, or even a necessary, part of solutions and we believe is now on the early part of Gartner’s “Slope of Enlightment”.

One example is electric power distribution, where challenges like grid congestion slow down the energy transition, block real estate projects, and delay power supply to new businesses and factories. IoT enables tools that lower grid dependence or eliminate it completely. IoT applications like curtailment and load balancing have become proven and accepted solutions, and deliver the value that users expect. This uptake is in itself is an illustration of another phenomenon of IoT: IoT starts with a problem.

For many sectors, IoT is now at the right point to step in. With fully developed and proven middleware solutions like BACE to connect assets to the cloud, users can skip the hard parts of IoT and focus on their core strenghts: the products and services they deliver to their customers.