This sponsored post is produced by Jeffrey M. Kaplan, managing director of THINKstrategies.
The hottest topic in the tech and software industry is the Internet of things (IoT). The idea of a connected world is capturing the imagination of corporate executives across nearly industry, and spawning a wide array of new strategies and solutions to fulfill the promise made possible by a new generation of more powerful and economical sensors and cloud services.
The IoT began to gain widespread attention when Google acquired Nest Labs for $3.2 billion in cash, raising awareness of the rapidly growing market for environmental control systems in the consumer and commercial sectors. This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) expanded on that idea by showcasing a broader set of connected cars, appliances, wearables and other devices.
Suddenly, the old-world of machine-to-machine (M2M) commercial applications for a modest number of industrial use cases has been replaced with an infinite universe of new methods of monitoring nearly everything object, product and service.
A measure of the vast market potential of this brave new world is the growing number of major players aggressively seeking to win a share with proprietary branding. Cisco Systems is promoting the ‘Internet of Everything’. Salesforce.com has made the “Internet of Customers” its new mantra for 2014. And, GE is advocating for the virtues of the "industrial Internet."
The key enabler of the IoT is the Cloud which has allowed companies to more cost-effectively connect to objects, capture and analyze the Big Data the objects generate, and share and act upon that information in a way that wasn’t economically feasible only a year ago.
The IoT will fundamentally change the way nearly every industry operates. But, there are plenty of technical and business issues which have to be overcome to capitalize on all the new technologies and Cloud services that make the IoT possible. Security, privacy and integration are the most obvious challenges.
The Connected Cloud Summit will bring together executives from the leading IoT players and innovative enterprises deploying the IoT solutions. The Summit will examine how the Cloud is enabling enterprises to pursue new business opportunities and overcome the technology challenges created by IoT to better serve their customers, create new offerings, and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
The executive forum on Thursday, September 18, in Boston will showcase new solutions and ideas being generated by leading IoT providers, start-ups and innovative enterprises.
Twenty-seven executives have already agreed to speak at the Summit. The executives represent thirteen corporate sponsors --- Aria Systems, Axeda, Birst, Cognizant, CorSource Technology Group, Dyn, Flexera Software, HP, Oracle, SafeNet, ServiceSource, Xively by LogMein, and Zuora, along with CXOs from GE, Google, Salesforce.com, SmartThings, InfoBright, Prelert, InfoBionic, Code On Technologies, Strategy Analytics, Agile Equity, Security Ledger, and the SIIA. Click here to see the current list of IoT executives speaking at the Connected Cloud Summit.
The Summit is also being supported by twenty industry associations, publications and other organizations including VentureBeat, MassChallenge, Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, Customer Success Association, Chief Digital Officer, Cirrostratus Group, East Coast Catalyst, Gainsight, Gennari Aronson LLP, APMdigest, Data & Storage Management Report, Datamation, E-Commerce Times, Sandhill.com, SoftLetter and famaPR. Click here to see all the organizations supporting the Summit.
Seating is limited at the State Room in Boston where the Connected Cloud Summit is being hosted. So, register now and save $100 off the standard conference admission fees.
Contact us if you’d like to learn more about how you can participate in the Connected Cloud Summit. Keep up with the latest news about the Connected Cloud Summit via Twitter @CloudSummits. We look forward to seeing you there!
Kaplan is Managing Director of THINKstrategies (www.thinkstrategies.com), an independent consulting firm focused on the business implications of the on-demand services movement. He is also the founder of the Cloud Computing Showplace (www.cloudshowplace.com), and the host of the Cloud Innovators Summit series (www.cloudsummits.com). He can be reached at jkaplan@thinkstrategies.com.
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