If you work in a technology-centric field, then the phrase “Internet of Things” or IoT has been a staple in recent years.
Some experts suggest IoT devices will soon surpass the global population: 8.4 billion connected devices in 2017 and 50 billion devices in 2020. This even includes devices, like household appliances, that have never generated data.
Are we heading towards a data tsunami?
With this many devices operating by 2020, let’s take a moment to consider the vast amount of data they will generate. Not only will there need to be storage solutions for all this data, but there also needs to be experts who can analyze and utilize it effectively.
Eventually, all this data could lead to a bottleneck that could potentially slow the growth of the IoT.
Paradigm shift to cloud computing
Since the inception of personal computing in the 1980s, the typical setup for computing was built around a centralized mainframe architecture. As we shifted to the internet era, we maintained this centralized concept.
But now everything is built around a client-server architecture. What does this mean for the next evolution of cloud computing?
Some experts suggest a centralized design will not be sufficient to handle the billions of devices that will be involved and that a paradigm shift toward a decentralized architecture is required.
Luckily, the edge devices that are becoming more common have the capability to handle such an architecture.