Internet Of Things – IoT – Scenarios

Contribution by Prashant Mendki – Director Alliances & Business Development at Bristlecone

In my last contribution we discussed – what is IoT and how this third wave of internet will change the world. Next, what are the scenarios that can be envisioned at this point where IoT will make an impact. On a high level there are 4 that can be listed down.

Machine to Dashboard

When a device senses something, it will send that data to a dashboard – which in turn will alert certain system to respond. The other system responds depending on a priority and the operation ends there. The most common example of this scenario would be – server monitoring dashboard. Server process fails – a red alert goes to a dashboard – IT person responds to it or server restarts the process. This is not something new. It happens already. In IoT scenario we will see enhanced version of this that will change the speed with which these devices talks to each other. In real life a train collision can be averted in seconds, a plane mishap can be taken care better. The response time and automation will make the difference.

Machine to Machine

One machine talking to another machine. That is the integral part of IoT. Machines do talk to each other in today’s industrialized world, but mostly in a serial fashion. So one device completes the job, passes instructions to another and move on. In the IoT world – location of machine or type of machine will not be an issue. Multiple devices will communicate with each other – wired or wireless.

Machine to Data

Machine to Machine will create huge data to handle, what we call Big Data today. So there will be a need where connected devices can become consumer of these big data systems, and then to make run-time decisions or predictive analysis based on it. The speed, accuracy and volume will be consideration here.

Machine to Business process

This one will be the most important aspect which will probably touch every company. Supply chain processes and procurement processes will have IoT impact. So a truck of perishable food will have sensors to predict “best to use” time based on chemical levels rather than just thumb rule of number of days from manufacturing. A demand or supply planning can be done at real-time basis rather than just seasonal variable predictive algorithms. A supplier can sense and manage inventory based on actual shelf movement.

Next question is about the data generated in this wave. Will it add new aspect to Big Data – as the social media wave did? Will all these devices communicating with each other generate so much data that things will explode beyond imagined capacity? Let’s look at that in my next contribution – IoT and Big Data

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Prashant is a business strategy expert with over 15 year professional experience in Analytics, Data Management, Sales Management, Business Development, Strategic Alliances and strategic business planning. He possesses strong experience in solution practice management, go-to-market strategy and business development in high growth and mature markets. At Bristlecone he is responsible for driving revenue by developing partner strategy, working closely with partner ecosystem, and defining & executing demand generation programs. He has successfully implemented strategic collaboration with business partners and key customers to derive business value throughout the engagement value chain.