IBM Jumps on the IoT Bandwagon with $3 Billion, Four Year Investment

How fast do you have to run to catch up to a wagon that's already in motion? I'm sure Watson could calculate it pretty quickly and fortunately for IBM it owns the cognitive supercomputer to help.

The IoT train has already left the station for most, with many large companies already catching the wave. Microsoft, Google, Cisco, General Electric, Panasonic, and others already have plans in place to compete in the booming IoT market. And, by 2020, it's expected that the IoT market will have evolved into something unrecognizable than it is even now. Everyday devices will be constantly connected, delivering masses of data to the Cloud every second, under the guise of improving our lives.

IBM continues to be a lumbering giant. The company does eventually take part in new technology initiatives, but its entrance is usually much later than its competitors. It seems to prefer the slow-moving buffet line than the fast food lane at McDonald's.

Yesterday, IBM announced that it will being development of a new IoT unit in the company and it will invest $3 billion over the next four years to finish it.

This is actually pretty early for IBM, despite its seeming late entry. It took the company several years into the Cloud rush before deciding to develop its own strategy. And, when it did, like it intends to do with IoT now, it threw hardware and software (through acquisitions) and consultants at the problem.

But, IBM already has a customer, the Weather Company. The Weather Company is owned by an association of benefactors including NBCUniversal, the Blackstone Group, and Bain Capital. IBM intends to provide data services to analyze sensor data for improving forecasts and identifying weather conditions that affect business sectors like insurance, energy, retail and logistics.