According to Wikipedia, the Internet of Things (IoT) is a combination of uniquely identifiable physical objects (things) with a virtual representation in an Internet-like structure. The primary goal is therefore to unite our real world with the virtual one. British technology pioneer Kevin Ashton first used the term "Internet of Things" in 1999.

In 2016, the mobile phone provider Vodafone once again conducted independent research on the topic of the "Internet of Things" in the field of IT and corporate strategies of organizations. 1,100 executives were asked about their current impression of the topic. The results can be downloaded from the URL of our reference.

• 76% of companies say that IoT will be "critical" to their success and that there will be more budget for IoT applications than for the cloud or analytics.
• Already 37% are of the opinion that they run their entire business on IoT. With 48% of respondents already in favor of using IoT to support large-scale business transformation.
• 63% of participating executives already see a significant ROI. On average, a 20% improvement in sales, costs, downtime and utilization can be expected.
• IoT is already part of IT (cloud, mobile, analytics and ERP) for 90% of users.

Not only in IT, but also in industry and trade, IoT applications have become indispensable. Machine states in industrial plants are recorded by means of sensor technology and checked, maintained or configured via tablets. In the production of vehicles, aircraft, trains and ships, IoT applications are used to work more productively and to configure products more quickly.

In addition to the functional software, reliable interfaces such as touchscreens for tablets or all-in-one PCs are an important prerequisite for smooth use.