NC Nov-Dec 2021

OPINION: IoT
and achieve the most value from IoT, there
are five steps businesses must consider first.
DEFINING BUSINESS CHALLENGES
Just because an organisation has connected
devices it doesn't mean that they'll
necessarily get value from them. Value lies
within the data. So, whilst there will be those
in the company saying 'we need IoT', what
questions ultimately does the data from IoT
devices need to answer to help the business
grow, improve processes and/or enhance
the customer experience? What insight does
the business want to have from monitoring
each device? What does the outcome of the
investment need to be?
GOOD AND BAD DATA
With so much data at their fingertips (this can
be millions or billions of rows of data),
businesses really need to start, if they haven't
already, moving away from the idea of
having every device connected and the 'let's
store everything just in case' mindset when it
comes to their data. They need to be able to
work out what is 'good' data and what is
'bad' data. If all a business has coming back
from devices is low value data / low hanging
fruit, it will not benefit them.
Cloud storage, while low cost at the start of
any IoT project, quickly becomes expensive
at scale, and the same goes for processing
Peter Ruffley, CEO, Zizo
that data - which as the volume grows, so
does the processing time, and the cost.
EDGE ANALYTICS
Organisations need to become more
strategic with how and where data is
analysed. Not just in terms of getting
insights, but looking at the data itself and
working out where the inherent value lies
within it. When data can be analysed down
at the edge, only the most valuable data
collected will be shared and in real time,
making the process more cost effective to
the business. Additionally, the amount of
data being collected from connected
devices puts a great deal of pressure on a
cloud network.
If organisations want to be sending data
to the cloud, then a hybrid approach using
edge analytics will ease the load. Edge data
analysis is traditionally delivered through a
single sensor node before being passed
back to the cloud, but new advances in
edge computing platforms allow for the
analysis of both real-time and historical
data, creating a more holistic view and
enabling better training models for Artificial
Intelligence and Machine Learning.
READY FOR 5G - WHEN IT ARRIVES
There is no doubt that 5G is going to
make a huge impact on the way that
businesses and other entities, such as smart
cities, are able to utilise and manage data.
However, like the initial roll-out of IoT
platforms and technology, we are still very
much in the early adopter phase, with
limited access to both full 5G platforms or
test beds.
Many technologies are still utilising older
bandwidths, and there is a case for looking
at some of the more proven technologies to
deliver point solutions that are better suited
to individual use cases.
SPECIALIST EXPERTISE
A business might spend a considerable
amount on IoT and other emerging
technologies and be able to retrieve a lot of
data but if it doesn't know how to get value
from it, it's pretty much worthless. Due to the
complex nature of any IoT deployment,
there will be a requirement for specialist
skills and expertise.
Working with device suppliers will help
organisations to understand data formats
and to work out what data is actually
needed to deliver insights to meet the
defined strategy. Edge computing will also
have a big part to play in sending the right
data to tools and technologies that can be
accessed by individuals who can make a
difference for the business. NC
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