Internet of things, or IoT, is one of the most prominent technologies in recent and emerging products by tech giants. Projections show that it could be worth in excess of hundreds of billions of dollars in the near future. But with all that data flying around in the cloud, just how is Internet of Things going to shape the workplace of the future?
IoT is going to have a big impact on how the day-to-day running of businesses up and down the country in the future. We need only look at the popularity of products that harness IoT in the home to realise that it is here to stay. And in this century, things that stay don’t just stay – they grow.
Both Google Home and Amazon Echo, the two main competitors in the AI-powered home voice-assistant market, have gained considerable traction throughout 2016 and 17. But if we look even further back we can see the beginnings of the IoT takeover way before that. Cloud-based technology offered an attractive way for businesses to back up and access data with speed and efficiency. Now IoT offers data on a herculean scale.
So just how will Internet of Things shape the workplace of the future?
Remote working
Working outside of a traditional office has seen a huge increase over the past couple of years. It is an attractive way for workers to conduct their tasks autonomously. Now IoT is making remote working a plausible option for businesses and industries that would never have thought them possible. Intelligent networking solutions could allow employees to connect to central databases and technologies in the office/factory floor from as far away as possible.
Efficiency and productivity
IoT developments are always made with the goal of improving productivity and enabling growth. A great deal of these technologies will improve workplace efficiency and productivity by allowing easy access to data and enabling quick and intelligent analysis. These also empower management to understand their workforce in detail and make smart choices in order to make operations more easily scalable.
Data-powered… pretty much everything
Possibly the biggest way IoT will effect the workplace surrounds data. Data-powered advertising and marketing is already a must, enabling smart connections between businesses and consumers. The access to valuable data that IoT provides will enable businesses to better understand their customers and take advantage of that knowledge.
Administration empowered
Administrative tasks will be able to be undertaken with a far greater level of ease, due to intelligent database designs. Companies will be able to keep track of their inventory at a molecular level, tracking the products from materials through manufacturing all the way to the point of sale. This frees up staff for more important tasks and allowing a higher production rate.
