And that's largely correct, in many cases, but it's increasingly not the whole story – IoT endpoints are getting closer and closer to the ability to do their own analysis, leading to simpler architectures and more responsive systems. It's not the right fit for every use case, but there are types of IoT implementation that are already putting the responsibility for the customising their own metrics on the devices themselves, and more that could be a fit for such an architecture. There are three main areas where letting the endpoint do its own data analysis – in whole or in part – is becoming increasingly common – smart cities, industrial settings and transportation. In smart cities smart cameras can do certain kinds of analysis right there on the device, helping planners understand pedestrian and motorised traffic patterns. The difference between doing analytics completely on an endpoint device or partially on a device is an important one, according to Gartner research vice president Mark Hung.