We are at a stage in our technology industry and in our lives where we are witnessing growth beyond mobile phones. Everything today wants to become smart, intelligent and programmable. We are entering a highly programmable world where we are looking to find a problem in everything around us and offering a solution by connecting it to the internet hence together and cloud. We expect a tsunami of things over the period of next five years when Internet of Things (IoT) will become Internet of Everything( IoE). More smarter phones equipped with sensors connected to peripherals (wearables) also integrated with sensors from cars to connected fixed devices such as TV, refrigerators, energy meters, thermostats, garbage cans, etc will all play a big role here.

Hardware players like Qualcomm (With Sixth Sense), Microsoft (with Nokia SensorCore SDK & Kinect), Samsung (with its Samsung Remote Sensor SDKs) are already investing in this space with other platform players such as Nokia (Here), Google (Google Now), Facebook (Social Graph) are learning a lot leveraging the horizontal platform approach and huge installed base respectively collecting tsunami of contextual datapoints about connected everything. This will not only touch consumers directly but through different verticals (e.g. healthcare, etc) and shaping thousands of use-cases and experiences.

However, there are two things which will drive the success of an all IoE world:

1. Big Data: Capturing zillions of data points about billions of connected things, users, environment and most importantly capturing content in sync with “context, time and location” meta data to go along. This is going to be a gold mine for technology companies. Technology companies will transform into Data companies. Horizontal companies well positioned here are likes of Google, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, Tencent and Yahoo whereas richer vertically integrated hardware players such as Samsung, Apple and others would likely chose this path or partner to leverage their global level scale. Our industry is at a very nascent stage right now where it is working on right now to capture the Big Data in every possible manner. For e.g. Facebook acquired Whatsapp to help it complete users’ social profile and we could see more such moves to encompass every possible access to panels to capture valuable data.

So far so good.

2. Big Information: After capturing zillions of data points then converting them into real-time actionable, valuable and meaningful information will kickstart the Big Information era. We will see a significant shift in business models in the era of “Big Information” where the entire KPIs of the so called data companies will transform from “data capital” into “intelligent knowledge capital”. This will mark the growth of newer self-autonomous ever-connected intelligent devices and services which will adapt automatically to different situations, scenarios for the users taking in consideration everything around us. Its going to be an extended form of machine learning mining the big-data controlled from the cloud. Highly intelligent, relevant, powerful, industry & life shaping. But it will take atleast 5-7 years to reach that stage.

To traverse from the era of Big Data to Big Information, industry players will have to start investing not only in the foundation of Big Data panels and systems but also for the Big Information era to convert the huge data mine to raw material to real product, services crafting newer, smarter and meaningful experiences. The more knowledgeable & horizontal a company in the “Big Information” era, the more it will dominate in the longer term. Hardware, software, platforms and ecosystems will become a commonplace just a medium to learn more, process more and build more, a never ending cycle. However, brands will not become commodity, the “intelligent experiences” value add will drive the brand equity and not the shiny specs or formfactors.

Acquisitions in big data analytics and information space on cards over the next five years.

Watch out for this trend!!

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