Much like the early clamor surrounding "Big Data," it has become next to impossible to avoid the "Internet of Things" (IoT) as the latest cross-industry catchphrase. However, while all the hype might imply that IoT is new, the term has actually been around since 1999, when Kevin Ashton, cofounder of MIT’s Auto-ID Center coined it in his seminal article, "That 'Internet of Things' Thing."