You've heard of the Internet of Things. Now get ready for the Internet of Everything – a term coined by Cisco Systems. Chad Jones, vice president of IoT strategy with LogMeIn, explains just what the IoE is, and how it differs from previous connectivity environments.

The Internet of Things (IoT) may be more significant in reshaping the competitive landscape than the arrival of the Internet. Its productivity potential is so powerful it will deliver a new era of prosperity.

The Internet of Things has intelligence distributed throughout many integrated layers. Algorithms and analytics are needed to make sense of the raw data. Often this intelligence needs to reside on the edge of the network close to the source of the data near the "things" comprising the IoT.

Just as the use of the word "cloud" exploded in the late 2000s, we have seen the term "Internet of Things" (IoT) appearing everywhere during the past couple of years. It seems as though everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. Can one make sense of this phenomenon?

Are we to add the Internet of Things to the pantheon of top strategic technology priorities for the decade? That's the question increasingly in front of IT decision makers these days as tech vendors add the buzzphrase to their marketing and practitioners evaluate the rapidly growing array of related tools and technologies.

The growing Internet of Things (IoT) will bring new opportunities and challenges, not the least of which will be increased spending in retail IT and advanced security concerns.

The smart home appliance market, defined by products with built-in connectivity, will witness substantial growth over the next five years, reaching nearly $25bn by 2018, according to ABI Research. Currently limited to the top-end luxury models, wireless connectivity will slowly permeate to lower tier brands and models.