In my 40 years working in industry and industrial automation, I cannot recall a period in which there has been so much technological jargon. Almost every periodical, advertisement, blog, article, paper, conference or website is loaded with references to the Internet of Things (IoT), the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), Industrie 4.0, Cloud Computing, Fog Computing, Edge Computing, Big Data Analytics and/or Small Data Analytics.

Are you new to industrial Wi-Fi and worried about perceived reliability issues? Many companies worry wireless local area networks (WLANs) are unreliable or only available for (or useful with) new equipment and state-of-the-art applications. Wireless technologies are no longer a luxury or bonus. They’re mandatory for modern industrial networking. As the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) drives changes on the factory floor, wireless infrastructure is the central nervous system that keeps everything functioning.

The evolution of electronic cable is similar to the evolution of technology in general – everything is simply getting smaller. It’s happening in almost every industry. It’s happening all around us. Industrial manufacturing is no different. In the manufacturing setting it’s called miniaturization. Customers are demanding the benefits of smaller machines and smaller devices and machine builders are listening.

What do the movies “Groundhog Day” and “Independence Day” have in common, and what can we learn from them related to cyber defense? Well, if you weren’t able to attend the annual RSA Conference back in February, cyber defense expert Tony Sager explained it all at the Tripwire booth. (In case you missed it, Belden acquired Tripwire in January of 2015.)

It’s become quite clear that the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is the future of industry. By now we’ve well and truly covered the point that IIoT is, in fact, not hype. For end users and OEMs, the IIoT, cloud and big data analytics are creating very real business opportunities.