Due to recent/rapid development in technology, i.e., from wired to wireless, the communication among human and devices/machines has been move/shifted to a new level. Some new technologies/concept has been created in current day-to-day life. Internet of things and cyber physical systems are one among them. Generally, Internet of things is about connecting “Things” (objects and machines) to the Internet and eventually to each other (also called Internet connected things) while cyber physical systems (CPS) is integration of computation, networking, and physical process. On another side, Internet connected things (ICTs) allow integration of service with connecting physical objects like fridge, air conditioner (AC), etc. IoT makes its data and services available more open. Internet of things (IoT) refers to the fundamental part of a CPS which is connection and communication of entities through Internet. IoT technology interconnects of all types of devices to the Internet that enables them to exchange data, optimize processes, and monitor devices. This interconnection of things is of great benefits for the industry/organizations, the economy of a nation, and the end user/consumer. It forms new systems and services by creating a network of sensors, actuators, and devices. At last, the efficient tools (like Apache Hadoop, Apache Spark, Apache MLib, MongoDB, R Programming, Neo4j) we used in big data analytics based on popularity, feature richness, and usefulness are being discussed. Hence, this work provides a detail discussion about the terms (discussed above) like Internet of things, cyber physical systems, its importance in various applications, importance to humanity/benefits to society, issues, challenges and research gaps, etc., in detail and also conclude this interested topic with several future research directions for future researchers (who are working in these computing environments). © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.