2017 was the year of the Internet of Things, in the sense that it played a centrally significant role in the tech community as it grew itself. Be it the predictions for 2018 digital trends or innovators like Elon Musk talking about the future, IOT found a spot everywhere.

But, the Internet of Things isn’t the only trend you need to be watching when it comes to elements which will affect digital transformation in 2018. It’s the Internet of Everything, IOE, that’s rising alongside IOT these days.

Think! Physical objects, like a transmission grid, a manufacturing plant, your vehicle, a river, these are all examples of things that can be connected via a single digital network assisted by sensors. This system will measure every physical characteristic and store it as data, making the world a big interconnected bubble with way more flexibility of use and control.

Factors Which Assist the IOT and IOE Supportive Digital Transformation Trends in 2018

1. There’s a Lot of Data around Us

Gartner Inc. had predicted in 2014 that over 4.9 billion connected devices would roam the earth by 2015. By 2020, Gartner forecasts that the number would cross 25 billion.

Right now, as the world grows, so do the sophistication with which we develop and use technology. From smart metres and ATM tellers to identification tags, wearables, smart cars, and automated homes, the degree of connected computing in our reality has grown exponentially in the past few years.

That ends up creating data, tons of it, that is ultimately like fodder for the IOE and IOT.

2. Cloud Services Have Begun Acting as an Efficient Growth Engine Now

Having data is never enough unless you have resources to extract information from it and act upon it while the time is right.

A large chunk of the 2018 technology predictions circles around innovation which will make cloud services more efficient and advantageous for businesses. A Cisco survey forecasts that Saas or Software as a Service will take over around 60% of the cloud-based workload. By 2021, the same report suggests, 94% of compute instances will be processed in a cloud centre.

The point- cloud simplifies operations. It makes it easier for you to serve the customers. It keeps you updated. Your solutions are deployed quickly. And, it lets you keep up with the market with the flexibility to change as per the market conditions.

3. Customer Engagement Has Reached an All-New High

Business leaders call 2017 the year the omnichannel took centre stage. And it did!

With text, email, voice, chat, video, images, etc. coming together as a unified force to engage the customer, customer engagement analytics spanning every possible touchpoint in a customer’s journey could very well be a prominent digital business transformation this year.

Right now, businesses can afford to offer real-time information to their users. Considering the level of integration we deal with at present, and the number of mobile and social networks around us, the real-time analysis of information allows all the involved parties in a transaction to make smarter, well-informed decisions.

The current business trends, consumer trends for 2018, they all suggest that industry manufacturers and solution providers are looking for feasible ways to act on the possibility of a complete digital transformation. Data-rich products, intelligent machines, and cognizant designs will help bring IOT to the forefront in the coming year.

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Written By Axel Balakrishnan

Axel is a co-founder of Codelattice and heads the MARCOMM unit. Perfection in creativity is his motto. He frequently blogs his thoughts on Branding, social media, strategy and Marketing. You can connect with him through axel@codelattice.com