'The Internet Of Things' My Understanding

The “Internet of things” (IoT) is becoming an increasingly growing topic of conversation both in the workplace and outside of it. It’s a concept that not only has the potential to impact how we live but also how we work.  But what exactly is the “Internet of things” and what impact is it going to have on you if any?  There are a lot of complexities around the “Internet of things” but I want to stick to the basics.  Lots of technical and policy related conversations are being had but many people are still just trying to grasp the foundation of what the heck these conversations are about.

Let’s start with understanding a few things.

Broadband Internet is become more widely available, the cost of connecting is decreasing, more devices are being created with wifi capabilities and sensors built into them, technology costs are going down, and smart phone penetration is sky-rocketing.  All of these things are creating a “perfect storm” for the IoT.

So what is the Internet of things?

Simply put this is the concept of basically connecting any device with an on and off switch to the Internet (and/or to each other). This includes everything from cell phones, coffee makers, washing machines, headphones, lamps, wearable devices and almost anything else you can think of.  This also applies to components of machines, for example a jet engine of an air-plane or the drill of an oil rig.  As I mentioned, if it has an on and off switch then chances are it can be a part of the IoT.  One of the analyst firm says that by 2020 there will be over 26 billion connected devices…that’s a lot of connections (some even estimate this number to be much higher, over 100 billion).  The IoT is a giant network of connected “things” (which also includes people).  The relationship will be between people-people, people-things, and things-things.

How does this impact you?

The new rule for the future is going to be, “anything that can be connected, will be connected.”  But why on earth would you want so many connected devices talking to each other?  There are many examples for what this might look like or what the potential value might be.  Say for example you are on your way to a meeting, your car could have access to your calendar and already know the best route to take, if the traffic is heavy your car might send a text to the other party notifying them that you will be late.  What if your alarm clock wakes up you at 6 am and then notifies your coffee maker to start brewing coffee for you? What if your office equipment knew when it was running low on supplies and automatically re-ordered more?  What if the wearable device you used in the workplace could tell you when and where you were most active and productive and shared that information with other devices that you used while working?

On a broader scale the IoT can be applied to things like healthcare, smart medical devices, transportation networks “smart cities” which can help us reduce waste and improve efficiency for things such as energy use; this helping us understand and improve how we work and live.

IOT for Project Management

The list of project management stakeholders is getting bigger –and so are the potential headaches for project managers.

The Internet of Things has several levels of sophistication. At its simplest, this network of sensors supplies project managers with a number of data points that can hypothetically be fed into several types of systems, such as business intelligence platforms, enterprise resource planning systems, or project management software. At this level, the IoT has simply expanded the number of data sources available to business users, and allows for a granular view of projects and processes.

For example, this use of the IoT has found great success in the management of large scale construction projects. Transporting the equipment and vehicles necessary to complete large-scale construction can be very costly, so project managers gain a great deal of value from placing sensors on transportation vehicles to gather historical data about how long it takes equipment to move from one location to another as well as how many resources are committed to moving said equipment from site to site. This information can be used to create more accurate bids that factor in these costs.

Additionally, PMs can use the IoT of things as a security measure that helps reduce project waste. Theft is a perpetual problem in this industry, so placing sensors on high-value equipment could contribute to less resource loss.

But perhaps the most interesting use of the IoT lies in placing sensors inside of finished projects so these devices can continue to gather information over the lifetime of the building. As materials age and change due to environmental conditions, the sensors will continue to track and report information back to the main project management system. This not only helps research and development teams improve the materials and standards used for construction projects, it also acts as a quality assurance mechanism so that if a foundation begins to decay, maintenance can be alerted to begin repairs.

This last example actually moves beyond the most basic function of the Internet of Things. By signaling the need for maintenance, the IoT actually starts the repair process. For field service technicians, this could be a dream come true. Instead of searching for which part to repair, sensors could communicate exactly what’s wrong to the technician, or a technician could actually search the Internet for the location of the technology that’s in need of repair.

This next level of sophistication could make project management much simpler through automation, even in industries that don’t feature technology-heavy job functions. For instance, sensors placed in retail shipping boxes could signal how much time it took a certain store to unpack and distribute new products, resulting in increased productivity.

The final stage of sophistication in the Internet of Things lies in creating applications that work with the automation possibilities that a veritable ocean of sensors would present. This is where project management software will really start to shine. If PM software integrates with the data from all those sensors, it could become a dashboard for managing multiple data points throughout the entire enterprise. The subsequent automation possibilities and connectedness could lead to an entirely new vision of what could be managed from one software application.

Courtesy: Multiple Articles and Google research.....