This is a big book: 256 pages, 77,000 words. It’s sub-titled “Leveraging the shift to a data centric world” and it targets the executives and senior managers of both enterprise organisations and technology companies. The book does not assume prior knowledge of the subject so it’s an easy way to start thinking about the IoT, all the data that is generated and how best to use it. On the other hand, the executives and managers who do have prior knowledge may want to cut to the chase and find out what the authors have to say about the future and that shift to a data-centric world. I did, says Bob Emmerson, freelance writer and telecoms industry observer.
However, as a reviewer I read the first part and the start of the second without learning anything that was significantly new and the third part on deployment architectures was somewhat technical and detailed. But — and it’s a big but — the third part, which started with “The challenge of becoming a data-driven organisation”, gave me what I was looking for as a freelance writer and it did so in spades. It contains clear, concise information on the role of the first receiver for enterprises as they begin to leverage their ownership and control of their data. The focus today has been on intelligent connected products and the resulting benefits, but the book made it clear that increasingly the value of data will become more important when it is shared. 
At that point I realised that the authors had taken on a formidable challenge: how to communicate the diverse developments and benefits of IoT with a very diverse audience. However, if the reader is prepared to use this publication as a reference book then it works really well. For example, go to a section of particular interest such as the role of the first receiver and subsequently find out what barriers had to be removed and what developments had to take place.
At that point I realised that the authors had taken on a formidable challenge: how to communicate the diverse developments and benefits of IoT with a very diverse audience. However, if the reader is prepared to use this publication as a reference book then it works really well. For example, go to a section of particular interest such as the role of the first receiver and subsequently find out what barriers had to be removed and what developments had to take place.
This is not a book that most people would read from the beginning through to the end, but there is a logical flow of pertinent information, maybe too much at times. I got it as an eBook, for free, but I intend to buy the hardcopy version, put it on a handy shelf, and consult it whenever I need authoritative information on the multiplicity of IoT developments that are coming my way.
The Future of IoT was written by Don DeLoach (CEO of Infobright), Emil Berthelsen (research director at Gartner Group), and Wael Elrifai (senior director for Enterprise Solutions, EMEA & APAC, Pentaho). When I buy the hardcover version from Amazon it will set me back £24.03 (US$30.63). The paperback version costs £13.16 (US$16.78) and the Kindle Edition is a mere £7.70 (US$9.82).
The author of this blog is Bob Emmerson, freelance writer and telecoms industry observer
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