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Think about all the connected “things” you carry with you or have in your home:  Smart phones, iPads, PCs, fitness watches and many other devices. Some we’ve used for years, others are part of the growing Internet of Things (IoT). We use them frequently for communicating, connecting socially, monitoring our health and fitness or conducting business. All of this data is contributing to what IDC calls the Global DataSphere. You may not realize this, but as soon as you connect anything to the internet, you establish a data exchange relationship that adds to the world’s DataSphere until the device is disconnected.

Earlier this summer, my friend’s daughter began a new job, her first one right out of college. Amidst all the usual starting-a-new-job hubbub of picking health insurance and setting up her direct deposit, she was also faced with getting her hardware – laptop, tablet, and smartphone – selected and set up. It’s a task many of us are usually faced with, and don’t spend too much time thinking about. However, not long after starting her job, she called me at work with a question:

“Ramon, which wearable should I get?”

By now you’ve probably heard about this next generation of cellular connectivity thing known as 5G.  Nationwide advertising campaigns tout the ability to play multiplayer games on the move and logos are already changing on our phones. You might even think you have it via the 5G (GHz) channel on your WiFi router. Mobile operators began announcing launches of one form of 5G service or another beginning late last year and are continuing through 2019. Leading academics and engineers have already moved on and started talking about 6G and 7G. The 5G era is signed, sealed and delivered, right?

The Internet of Things (IoT) market is a tricky thing; customers aren’t necessarily looking to buy “IoT technology” but are instead searching for solutions that can help them achieve a specific business goal, such as supply chain efficiency or cost savings. That’s why IoT vendors need to not only have a good handle on the other players in their space, but on the ways they and their competition are framing their individual IoT solutions. It’s not enough to talk about the IoT market; vendors must frame their solution in a business value context in order to connect with their customer base.