Technology has continued to evolve in ways that few would have been able to imagine. This has allowed electronics to become smarter, more connected and far more useful.

With the Internet of Things (IoT), they're allowing more than just computers to become connected to the Internet. This aims to make the life of the average person easier, better and more care-free.

Let's examine why the Internet of Things has become such a powerful idea that an estimated one out of every five developers currently works on an IoT project.


What is the Internet of Things?

The Internet of Things hinges on one seemingly simple concept: electronics can be embedded in machines, clothing, animals and even people to provide a networked world where the whole is more than just the sum of its parts.

For example, consider how the Internet of Things can influence things like refrigerators. They can be networked directly to the manufacturer for readings that can warn if the refrigerator is about to malfunction. They can even be connected to a grocery shopping service to allow someone to restock them automatically or to notify the owner that the refrigerator is almost out of an item.

The most interesting notion about the Internet of Things is that it's not just a situation where one “thing” connects with a party. They typically communicate with other things, which in turn allows for a network of automated processes to occur.

These processes can simplify and expedite tedious tasks to make everyday life for everyone easier, which is why projects involving the Internet of Things are so popular.


How Prevalent is IoT Development?

An estimated one in five developers are currently developing projects for the Internet of Things. Their chosen languages vary widely because of the flexibility that IoT enjoys.

For example, IoT projects that hinge on interacting with mobile phones tend to have apps written in JavaScript or Java. The back-end code that runs the IoT functionality for machines tends to be written in Assembly, C++,Java,Perl,Pythonor another compiled language for efficiency.

To put the growth of IoT work into perspective, Evans Data Corp. performed research to create predictions about IoT projects in 2014. They stated that 17% of companies would be developing IoT projects.

In this year, that figure's risen to a solid 19%. Given the fact that 44% of developers have stated that they will enter into the IoT scene this year or next, this means that development will only grow in the coming future.


The Future Involving the Internet of Things

Development of IoT-related projects will likely explode in the next few years. The advantages it brings, such as more efficient work in manufacturing environments and the projected 15% savings to the restaurant industry over the next five years, will make it one of the most valuable technological changes in the near future.

Without a comprehensive understanding of the Internet of Things and the skills to lead IoT projects, businesses and developers may find themselves falling behind. Don't let the Internet of Things pass you by.

Python programming language is general purpose open source programming language. One of its main features is flexibility and ease of use. Python has a variety of useful set of utilities and libraries for data processing and analytical tasks. Currently due to the rise in demand of big data processing python has grown in popularity because its features are easy to use which are core to the processing of huge chunks of information.

Guido Van Rossum, the pioneer of python, introduced python in the year 1980 and then implemented it in 1989. The intention behind the development of python was to make it open source language that can also be used for commercial projects. The fundamental principle of python is to write the code that is easy to use, highly readable and embrace writing fewer lines of code for achieving a particular task. One of the most popular standard libraries which have ready to use tools for performing a various work is Python Package Index. It was introduced in January 2016 and contains more than 72,000 packages for third-party software usage.

Python plays a critical role in linking data to customers. Recently python has found few entry barriers and many people have had access to have experienced the power of python in the past. So, what makes python the best language for big data analytics?

One of the reasons to choose python is that python ecosystem is very vibrant, the ratings at Redmonk are a proof of the strength python community. The Redmonk ranking is based on StackOverflow discussions and contribution made in Github to determine the popularity of programming language on the method used by users to ask questions about Python and the number of the open source projects contributions.

Information Technology (IT) tools are here to support your business in the global market. Effective communication is key for IT and business experts to collaborate effectively in search of solutions. Consulting, reaching out for help to a third-party, can bridge the gap between your business marketing experts and IT operations experts, especially with the emergence of big data analytics and its implication on the global market. Having the right consultants equipped with business knowledge and data technology expertise can make a difference.

Your marketing organization is probably familiar with digital tools and conducting global research. Its results can uncover the journey customers take to purchase your products or use your services. It can highlight the pain points and frictions that prevent their experiences with you to be delightful and amazing. Armed with this knowledge and beautiful compelling presentations, marketing executives expect that IT operations leaders will translate these insights into actions.

But people in IT operations are too involved in meeting key performance indicators that have nothing to do with the end customers. Meeting requirements of faster and cheaper don't translate very well into customer satisfaction. A classic breakdown in communication is described in a Harvard Business Review article, “A Technique to Bridge the Gap Between Marketing and IT.” The author goes on to describe how a new CIO at a bank found IT to be focused on the internal organization as their customers, rather than the real end customer. Moreover, no one was looking at the incident reports which clearly showed that incidents were increasing. And nobody looked at what these incidents were doing to the bank’s customers. The startling and scary numbers of incidents were caught and addressed and brought down from 1,000 to 600 or (40%) and later to 450 per week.

Surprisingly, these type of seemingly isolated scenarios are still being discovered within organizations presently, sometimes internally, and through third party insights such as consultants.  By engaging consultants to provide a perspective based on what they’ve experienced before, they can often bring new and innovative ideas or possible challenges to the table that an internal processes probably wouldn’t have been able to see on their own.  Often, third party input can help to provide the translation needed to go from marketing research results into actions that IT operations can understand and make sense in their high-performance culture. When companies understand and use this knowledge to reassess how to improve their customer experiences, they work backward from what customers want to achieve significantly higher improvements. 

IT and business management are more and more being asked to move away from their traditional roles, such as IT being the "technology infrastructure gatekeeper", and instead become enablers across the enterprise of effective collaboration, big data consumers, and key players in driving desired business outcomes. Marketing leaders look to technology as a way to facilitate the customer's journey and his positive experience of it, bring more clients, and meet increasingly higher loyalty goals. They rely on IT projects to enable big data-based behavioral targeting anywhere in the global market. This means projects to analyze search engine results, improve website personalization and optimization, and building of mobile applications for a more personal experience. All these are projects that consultants with their communication, consulting and technical expertise are well prepared to help in order to bridge the expectation gap between IT and other business organizations.

In order to meet these 21st-century business challenges, Information Technology organizations have been transitioning from waterfall stage-gate project management approaches to agile development. The stage-gate method applies a step-by-step approach where waiting, reviewing and approving are required before moving to the next step in the project. Agile management emphasizes collaboration, no decision hierarchies, and few people roles for making quick, customer-focused small changes over time to deliver solutions that delight and amaze customers. Agile development has allowed many businesses to respond quickly to changing customer desires and expectations. But moving to continuous delivery is a struggle requiring focused, dedicated teams that are not well suited to the traditional matrix organization where people are resources whose time must be "chopped" into many pieces and shared among many projects. Agile teams meet frequently as often as daily but never waiting more than a week to do so.

Marketing people are externally focused. IT people are internally focused. The first works with customer emotions. The second works to increase efficiency. Big data analytic tools are used by the first and supported by the second. Consultants can be the glue that helps both come together in effective collaborations that deliver positive business outcomes in both global and local markets.

Facebook was originally intended as a way for people to stay in touch with friends and family members by sharing pictures and status updates on their timeline. As the website's popularity has grown, so has criticism that it is becoming one giant, online high school.

Online Bullying

There has been a dramatic increase in recent years in the number of online bullying cases due to the introduction of social media. Bullying isn't just limited to younger Facebook users, either. Many adult users have also resorted to bashing others online through nasty status updates and cruel comments.

Prior to social media, bullying in high school involved "kick me" signs and toilet swirling. Facebook and other social media outlets have allowed users to take bullying to a whole other level. Victims can no longer escape bullying by leaving school or work. The torture continues online, at anytime and anyplace.

Status "Likes"

In high school, everyone wants to be part of the popular crowd; people who are outgoing, beautiful, and seem like they have everything.  Posting a status update is similar to wanting to be popular. Once an update is posted, many users wait with bated breath to see how many friends will "like" their status. They believe that the more "likes" they receive, the more popular they are.

If that isn’t enough, there are many Facebook games that involve "liking" someone's status. Games like "Truth Is", where someone likes a status update and in return the poster writes how they really feel about the friend on their Facebook wall. This can get touchy, especially if the two people aren't friends outside of Facebook. It's similar to high school where someone desperately wants another person to like them, but when they find out how that person really feels they are crushed.

Relationships Are Difficult to Keep Private

When someone signs up for Facebook they’re asked to complete their profile, which includes a relationship section. Users can select from different options including "single", "married", "widowed", and "divorced". Whenever someone changes their relationship status, the update shows up on each of their friend's news feeds.

It's easy to see how this feature correlates with high school where everyone talks about who is dating who or which couple broke up. It used to be that after graduation, people were able to keep their relationships more to themselves. Not so anymore in the age of social media. Now everyone has the ability to state their opinion on a friend's relationship status, either by "liking" their status change or by commenting on it.

Facebook has presented many benefits to its users, including the ability to rekindle old high school friendships. What one must understand when they sign up for the service is that they are opening themselves up to the same criticism and drama that takes place in a high school setting.

Proceed with caution!