The Internet of Things is growing, and the professional services sector is leading the expansion.
A recent study by technology research firm Gartner estimates that the number of connected devices will increase 30 percent over the year to reach 6.4 billion devices worldwide in 2016 and 20.8 billion devices in 2020, BetaNews reported. The total IoT market will see $235 billion in services spending next year alone.
Hardware spending related to the use of connected machines in a business setting will hit $868 billion in 2016, and spending related to consumer applications will reach $546 billion that year, according to the report.
“IoT services are the real driver of value in IoT, and increasing attention is being focused on new services by end-user organizations and vendors,” said VP of Gartner Jim Tully.
According to Tully, generic IoT devices that work across industries are expected to dominate the market by 2020, as opposed to specialized devices, which are currently the largest category.
Gartner predicted that the majority of IoT devices will be used for professional services. According to ABI Research, professional services currently drives more than 40 percent of global IoT revenues.
The professional services category includes Web and mobile application development, consulting and IT systems administration.