1.6 Summary

The evolution of the internet has witnessed four distinct phases:

• connectivity
• networked economy
• collaborative experience
• the internet of everything (IoE).

The internet is essentially a network of networks. Underneath this network of networks lies a very real backbone of connections that bring the world to our internet-enabled devices. The IoE is bringing together:

• people
• process
• data
• things.

There are three main connections in the IoE environment:

• people communicate with people (P2P)
• machines communicate with people (M2P)
• machines communicate with machines (M2M).

The IoE brings value to organisations in these five areas:

• customer experience
• innovation
• employee productivity
• asset utilisation
• supply.

Networks provide the foundation for the internet and, ultimately, the IoE. The components of a network fall into one of three categories:

• devices
• media
• services.

The two most common types of networks are LAN and WAN. Consolidating different types of networks onto one platform creates a 'converged network'. Unlike dedicated networks, converged networks are capable of delivering voice, video streams, text, and graphics between many different types of devices over the same communication channel and network structure.