A new forecast from Gartner says the Internet of things (IoT) is more than just a name — it’s a force to be reckoned with in 2015.

The IT research firm on Tuesday said 4.9 billion connected things will be in use in 2015, up 30 percent from 2014, and will reach 25 billion by 2020.

“The digital shift instigated by the Nexus of Forces (cloud, mobile, social and information), and boosted by IoT, threatens many existing businesses,” said Jim Tully, vice president and analyst at Gartner. “They have no choice but to pursue IoT, like they’ve done with the consumerization of IT.”

According to Gartner, IoT will support total services spending of $69.5 billion in 2015 and $263 billion by 2020. It estimates that 2.9 billion connected things will be in use in the consumer sector in 2015 and will reach more than 13 billion in 2020.

As far as top three verticals using IoT, Gartner believes manufacturing, utilities and transportation will lead the way  in 2015. By 2020, however, utilities will jump to the number one spot, manufacturing will be second and government will rank third.

Gartner expects that some level of built-in intelligence and connectivity will be regarded as standard with in the next few years. This will bring about a new focus on protecting business initiatives using devices and services in IoT.

“The number of connected intelligent devices will continue to grow exponentially, giving ‘smart things’ the ability to sense, interpret, communicate and negotiate, and effectively have a digital ‘voice’,” said said Steve Prentice, vice president and Gartner Fellow, in a prepared statement. “CIOs must look for opportunities to create new services, usage scenarios and business models based on this growth.”

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