There’s an abundance of computing power in the world today. It’s in phones, tablets, and PCs of course. It’s also in other devices like fridges, home heating systems, traffic lights and payment terminals. Connectivity between devices is also rising rapidly. At the same time, computing power in data centers is growing rapidly. Through horizontal scaling, we’re seeing more cores, processors and servers. This data center computing power has become a commodity, and today it’s available for rent from providers like Amazon, Google and Microsoft.

Driving the Internet of Things

Both omnipresent computing power and connectivity are driving the so-called Internet of Things (IoT). But it’s more than infrastructure. At the end of the day, IoT isn’t about things, it’s about people. A successful IoT application has to create continuous end-user value. That way people integrate it in their personal and professional lives. A loyal community of strongly engaged end users creates enormous opportunities for upselling.

Managing the data flow

Continuous engagement generates continuous data exchange between devices and data centers. Depending on the application, there can be significant peaks and troughs in the data flow. The challenge is how to deal with all this data correctly and in the most efficient way. Furthermore, people expect services nowadays to be always available, even in the face of (partial) failure. This requires a fundamentally different way of thinking when it comes to software frameworks: solutions offering scaling and resilience will go hand-in-hand. Our society is getting online and that’s why knowledge of IoT is increasingly in demand.