An article in the latest issue of the Economist focuses upon the transition of Siemens and General Electric to the Internet of Things and how both firms are approaching the new technology. It is worth a read as both companies are approaching the evolution differently. Other companies and organisations will want to know what happens when operating technology, as represented by GE and Siemens, properly meets information technology. The first tends to be organised in vertical, industry-specific silos, such as machine tools and medical equipment. The second typically comes in horizontal, widely used layers, such as computer operating systems. Bringing it all together could go badly wrong.

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