The transformation will begin with the network; an integrated and connected set of protocols and nodes that will link every device across an almost endless array of industries including, retail, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, education, and transportation.
If you are exploring the potential of IoT to transform your business, your first question must be: Where do you start?
The common denominator in any IoT deployment is the network. The network touches everything; it communicates with every device, every application and everyone.
This ‘new’ network is not only the future of IoT but also the future of digitally transforming your business.
Whether you are a large enterprises or a small/medium business, here are five things to consider when building out your first IoT network:
To many organisations, the level of complexity in implementing IoT into their operations can be daunting as it is not uncommon to experience issues with provisioning and configuration of devices, as well as interoperability. Selecting solutions that have proven use cases and tested in a robust way is critical.
Every application, device or medium of that application should facilitate the IoT implementation in a frictionless manner. The IoT capabilities and user experience must happen behind the scenes but securely and seamlessly.
For example, if a company has 10 IoT devices managing different tasks and operations in their facility, it’s likely that they will interact with the devices via 10 different applications interfaces or dashboards. This will make the user experience clumsy and tedious. The process of onboarding devices or application, its corresponding analytics and notifications must be frictionless.
The biggest challenge with the emerging IoT landscape is that device manufacturers are creating data silos that run contrary to the principle of simplifying our lives and our businesses. As more consumers embrace IoT into their lives, this lack of ‘interconnectedness’ between the various IoT devices and applications will limit its appeal to consumers.
IoT will bring more and more new capabilities to our lives every day. An integrated approach, not silos, will make these capabilities more readily available. The solution should be adaptable and flexible, applying the interface that best suits the user to fully realise the potential of his or her connected device.
At its core, the Internet of Things is about sensors embedded into devices of all kinds, which provide streams of data via the network to one or more repositories. The data can then be analysed and acted upon so that it is beneficial to the business and its users.
IoT devices will evolve through intelligence applied to this data; intelligence in the form of machine learning and deep learning algorithms. This intelligence will look for patterns in the data so it can learn to adjust how it analyses that data.
There is ample evidence of this happening right now. Google, Amazon and many other leading companies are using intelligence to better serve their customers. For example, Netflix’s movie recommendations or Spotify modifying your playlist are some early applications of machine learning and deep learning.
Increasingly, fully-connected IoT solutions are becoming a reality with the forthcoming 5G networks and low-power 4.5g networks.
These are reliable and persistent networks that will enable applications to perform consistently and more reliably to deliver services to customers. Whether you’re on the edge, somewhere remote, in a densely populated area or even a factory, your IoT device will always be on.
More than just a boost in speed, these next generation networks will create a fertile ground for innovations and new ways of engaging customers. For example, a 5G network’s high-speed connectivity, very low latency, and ubiquitous coverage will support smart vehicles and transport infrastructure, remote medical diagnosis in healthcare, and even operating equipment in hazardous environments.
Full connectivity will shorten time-to-market from idea to commercial offering, with the right business models and access to an array of complementary ecosystem partners.
Increasingly, fully-connected IoT solutions are becoming a reality with the forthcoming 5G networks and low-power 4.5g networks.
Finally, security at all layers of the IoT network is critical for successful IoT deployments. From the device to the network, cloud and application stack, security needs to be at its core and always on. Embedded and continuous security is necessary from end-to-end, across the IoT network and its connected devices to access the world safely at all times.
Securing millions of IoT devices is no trivial task. In November 2016, a DDoS attack on two buildings in Finland rebooted the heating controllers and continued to shut down all heating in the building. The heaters never actually kicked in, even when temperatures were well below freezing. Through compromised devices, the attack serves as a warning that IoT security cannot be taken for granted.
The way we use our devices and the way they are actually behaving on the network demands continued and persistent security across all IoT applications.
Speak to our IoT team to find out more.Speak to our IoT team to find out more."This ‘new’ network is not only the future of IoT but also the future of digitally transforming your business."