This issue of IoT Now is all about simplification. Our reports detail how connectivity, device development and IoT security all need to be made easier for organisations engaging in IoT. Importantly, none of these are the core businesses of the companies that will create the massive IoT market we’ve all been waiting for.
It seems the penny has finally dropped. Businesses that are digitally transforming and looking to sell products as services are actually good at what they’ve always been good at. They don’t want to become connectivity experts and, while they might be market leaders at designing their own products, the components and design of IoT devices are a foreign landscape. In addition, their adoption of IT security has taken many years and doesn’t relate to the new business they are building in IoT.
This disconnect between the vendors of IoT connectivity, IoT device development and IoT security and the customer organisations has been one of the hindrances that have held back IoT and caused it to miss the well-worn multi-billion dollar projections. Those have now proven to be, in fact, threadbare but this may turn out to be a positive for the IoT industry as the vendor community is waking up to the need to create a simplified ecosystem in which it’s not necessary to become an expert in everything in order to succeed in IoT.
In intelligent connectivity, companies are providing eSIMs that enable companies to create devices with a single stock keeping unit (SKU) number for global deployment. Once deployed the device bootstraps onto the best available network. This makes connecting everything from vending machines to medical equipment easy and retailers and hospitals no longer have to become experts in wireless communications or have contracts with multiple providers worldwide.
Similarly, the IoT device components landscape is simplifying. Companies can now buy pre-integrated functional blocks of components. These are essentially sub-assemblies that can be brought together into an IoT device, accelerating development time but also resulting in faster timeto-market because certified components, such as modems, can be used and the device itself can piggyback on that certification.
Finally, in IoT security, it’s now understood that force-fitting IT approaches won’t necessarily work in IoT. Instead specialists are emerging to enable secure IoT from the hardware up. Regulation is coming into place that will simplify understanding of security for companies and users alike and this is addressing one of the largest concerns that hampers larger volumes of IoT deployments.
It’s a sign of maturity that initiatives across all these areas are taking place to simplify the process of rolling-out and adopting IoT. The realisation that it’s counter-productive for everyone to re-invent the wheel in isolation from each other is a significant step in the development of any sector and IoT looks to have moved from talking about this strategic shift to actually enabling it. An ecosystem of vendors selling simplified solutions in these essential areas will make it far easier for organisations to deploy IoT and they’ll be able to do so more quickly.
Enjoy the magazine!
George Malim
via https://www.AiUpNow.com
October 30, 2020 at 05:29AM by IoT Now Magazine, Khareem Sudlow
