IIoT of many colors

Sometimes change happens so fast that even descriptions can’t keep up. Right names become wrong names because they’re no longer inclusive enough. They can’t accurately describe what’s happening or should be, but they’re retained because no one’s thought of a suitable replacement yet.

For instance, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has apparently evolved to the point it’s no longer limited to industry, the Internet or even things. It seems to have become an all-encompassing network that uses mostly Ethernet and servers to span every type of device, microprocessor, user or other entity from the most humble sensor or input to the most sophisticated, cloud-computing application and everything in between. “Networking” might be enough, but it’s too old, and doesn’t have that forward-looking, sexy lure that all good buzzwords require

Names aside, because of this seemingly endless variety, the most important task is to find the solution or combination of functions that suits each user and their process best based on what they’re trying to accomplish now and in the future.