The phrase, “the Internet of Things”, is believed to have been coined by a brand manager at Proctor and Gamble. Kevin Ashton, in a 1999 presentation, envisaged an exponential growth of connected devices, as supply chain logistics got smarter.

Today, the Internet of Things is seen as one of the most significant technology trends, with analysts predicting that the number of connected, smart devices will grow to tens of billions over the next few years.

Much of this proliferation will happen in the workplace. For Software Asset Managers, this could have significant implications. The Internet of Things will not merely be a corner case for SAM: it could impact some of the biggest contracts, with key vendors like Oracle.

Oracle’s licensing rules are explained, at some length, in their Software Investment Guide. One commonly-used license type is called “Named-User Plus”.  Aimed at “environments where users and/or devices can be easily identified and counted”, the license model is illustrated with the following example:

SOURCE: evolvingitsm.com