Within the next five years, more than 90% of all Internet of Things (IoT) data will be hosted on service provider platforms as cloud computing reduces the complexity of supporting IoT “data blending”.

International Data Corporation (IDC) made a number of presented its “IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Internet of Things 2015 Predictions”:

* IoT and the Cloud. Within the next five years, more than 90% of all IoT data will be hosted on service provider platforms as cloud computing reduces the complexity of supporting IoT “Data Blending”.

* IoT and security. Within two years, 90% of all IT networks will have an IoT-based security breach, although many will be considered “inconveniences.” Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) will be forced to adopt new IoT policies.

* IoT at the edge. By 2018, 40% of IoT-created data will be stored, processed, analysed, and acted upon close to, or at the edge, of the network.

* IoT and network capacity. Within three years, 50% of IT networks will transition from having excess capacity to handle the additional IoT devices to being network constrained with nearly 10% of sites being overwhelmed.

* IoT and non-traditional infrastructure. By 2017, 90% of data centre and enterprise systems management will rapidly adopt new business models to manage non-traditional infrastructure and BYOD device categories.

* IoT and vertical diversification. Today, over 50% of IoT activity is centred in manufacturing, transportation, smart city, and consumer applications, but within five years all industries will have rolled out IoT initiatives.

* IoT and the Smart City. Competing to build innovative and sustainable smart cities, local government will represent more than 25% of all government external spending to deploy, manage, and realize the business value of the IoT by 2018.

* IoT and embedded systems. By 2018, 60% of IT solutions originally developed as proprietary, closed-industry solutions will become open-sourced allowing a rush of vertical-driven IoT markets to form.

* IoT and wearables. Within five years, 40% of wearables will have evolved into a viable consumer mass market alternative to smartphones.

* IoT and millennials. By 2018, 16% of the population will be Millennials and will be accelerating IoT adoption due to their reality of living in a connected world.

“The Internet of Things will give IT managers a lot to think about,” says Vernon Turner, senior vice-president of Research at IDC.

“Enterprises will have to address every IT discipline to effectively balance the deluge of data from devices that are connected to the corporate network. In addition, IoT will drive tough organisational structure changes in companies to allow innovation to be transparent to everyone, while creating new competitive business models and products.”