Can IoT get its cloud moment?

It is well known how COVID-19 has accelerated the digital transformation for companies. While the shift was expected, not many would have guessed that it would happen so quickly, and the adoption would cut across industries. IoT has had its own share of tail winds. In this piece, Alok Bardiya, Head – IoT (Business Unit), Tata Communications discusses how IoT is becoming a priority for businesses looking for scalability and speed.

Organisations are not simply looking to sail through the pandemic with an aim of returning to whatever their version of normal was and the changes they have implemented now are shaping a new future. As enterprises are getting their manpower back to the workplace, smarter digital workplace technologies, such as connected worker solutions including contact tracing, contactless operations, remote monitoring and more, have come to the forefront. Decisions about IoT adoption that were earlier on the back burner and viewed more as small, isolated projects – are now being prioritised and pulled forward. But the question is can it be scaled faster and made easier to implement?

Cloud-ifying IoT

Two of the top tech trends of the last decade – Cloud and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) – grew on the back of the flexibility and scalability that they brought. It empowered the tech teams and the users in a big way by allowing them to spin a virtual machine on the fly or add users to a SaaS application remotely and immediately. These two reached a recent high by enabling real-time collaboration between the dispersed co-workers and extending entertainment to masses stuck at home.

In a parallel world, IoT has the same or perhaps even more potential. It is applicable to any sector or any process. Today, enterprises are expanding their IoT focus and going beyond just the assembly line. They are looking at a much broader canvas – from remote operations to worker safety and management to delivering broader more efficiencies in what one can call as man-machine-material interfaces.

The first pillar – Think in terms of an “IoT fabric”

A full IoT solution is a combination of multiple components – sensors, devices, communications, cloud and software. So, can IoT be Cloudified? Some aspects of SaaS like agility can still be brought in but for that an enterprise will need to think of “shrink wrapping” some of these components into a “unified core”.

“Just like an IoT fabric running across the enterprise and turning the rest into flexible add on – like lego blocks, to build new use cases. This IoT fabric should have the ability to take any device and ability to self-create new dashboards, reports, and analytics on the fly.”

Depending on the use case, enterprises can change a module to turn a device from measuring temperature to pressure to weight or any other parameter – the choice is theirs and determined by what they want to drive. They can empower different functions or teams within the enterprise to use this fabric to create their own IoT use cases. For instance, if campus facilities want to monitor trash bins or whether  doors are open or closed, or simply check attendance in the cafeteria, appropriate sensors can help track and visualise this data as a dashboard in the platform. Specific rules can also be defined, trends analysed and alerts triggered, thus ensuring better efficiencies.

A large manufacturing company is using this ‘fabric’ approach to add multiple use cases as they go along. Starting with lights management, they have now added monitoring gases and even dust sensing in their factory environment. The company is using the same fabric for worker safety and efficiency use cases as well. Even as the manufacturing company implemented worker solution, they realised that it can be extended to materials management and how vendor deliveries can be managed more efficiently. As a result, the enterprise is targeting gains of upto 10% in productivity and turnaround times.

“It’s not just Enterprises – with initiatives like Smart Cities and Digital India, the penetration of IoT technologies is broader and the same IoT fabric is improving infrastructure, public utilities and services. An IoT enabled streetlight can also be enabled to measure air quality or temperature or rainfall.”

The second pillar of flexibility – ecosystem and OPEX based business model

Cloud and SaaS enabled a partner ecosystem, with partners playing a big role. SFDC used force.com to offer a lot more applications to the customer. Similarly, partners are playing a significant role in the IoT setup by providing standardised blocks that organisations can deploy on a plug and play model to their IoT fabric. Service providers and others are already offering this plug and play approach. A few others are working on similar universal adapter modules that will turn any device into a smart device.

“Success of cloud and SaaS were also driven by OPEX based and freemium pricing models that attracted tons of users. IoT will also require similar thinking, where vendors and customers share upfront costs, drive down CAPEX investments, and link payments to specific outcomes or efficiencies gained”

Conclusion

As we go forward, enterprises will continue to rely on IoT to recover and thrive in the post-COVID-19 scenario. IoT’s cloud moment is going to be about empowering users to create their own solutions. It will be about taking the complexity out and allowing for a flexible amalgamation of a common fabric, vendor partners and new business models.

Discover more about how IoT can transform your business in a post-covid world.