How a "Smart" Butt Reader Reminded Me That IoT Isn't Meant to Be the Internet of EVERY Thing

When RFID pioneer and MIT researcher, Kevin Ashton, coined the phrase "Internet of Things", back in 1999, he envisioned a world where anything could be electronically tagged and therefore affordably tracked and managed.

Fast forward nearly 20 years, with the proliferation of mobile supercomputers in everyone's pocket, smart devices that also make amazing barista-quality lattes and cheap sensors that collect and contain voluminous quantities of valuable data, and you can see why it would be tempting to turn every thing into a "smart" thing.

Was IoT Intended to be the "Internet of Every-thing"?

Ashton addresses this phenomenon in his new book, ‘Making Sense of IoT’, using a smart toaster as an example, claiming: “If the Internet of Things meant products like these—little more than home appliances with the word ‘smart’ added to their names—IoT would not be interesting”. Amen, brother.

Things that make you go, hmmmm...

I recently came across a device you sit on that measures your butt characteristics in order to match you to the optimally-sized bike seat. Not a completely useless endeavor, as anyone who rides a bike for hours every week will attest, a wrongly-sized seat can be a real pain in the...well, you get it. What really stood out was the Bluetooth enabled mobile app that connected to the super-sensitive digital butt-reader to accurately communicate the proper proportions to the closest millimeter. 

Really? Wasn't the old way of sitting on some form-fitting foam and taking out the measuring tape getting the job done?

IoT - Even better than the hype?

Contrary to the previous superfluous example, many businesses are already reaping the early returns on their IoT investments.

Aruba/HPE, a strong player in SOTI's rich partner ecosystem, shared these observations in a recently published paper, "The early expectations of any new technology almost always surpass what’s really achievable. But for IoT, its real-world advantages and applications are beginning to shine through."

Quite a refreshing departure from the norm!

In fact, their study of 3,100 global enterprises turned up over 57% that were already seeing benefit from IoT, in numerous use cases across a variety of industries.

• Smart Workplaces
• Industrial Sector
• Healthcare
• Retail
• Smart Cities

Click on the link in the first comment field below this article to view the full report.

What kind of return are they reporting?

Across the globe, the average return on investment from IoT was 34 percent. Over a quarter of respondents (27 percent) reported more than 40 percent ROI from IoT, and one in ten reported over 60 percent returns.

I Want That.

You might be wondering how you can get in on some of that action and where you would start?

One of the best areas to apply an IoT solution is addressing a business problem that carries a high cost of failure. In other words, well worth avoiding by investing in real-time alerts or predictive analytics. Projects like this are more easily measurable and make the cost/benefit analysis more obvious and attractive.

For example, losing a key component on a train locomotive that takes the engine out of service until it is retrieved and brought back to the train yard for repair, would be a very costly scenario. The incentive to apply an IoT-based predictive analytics solution, to assist in component failure identification and avoidance, is high. 

Timing is Everything.

Trying to implement IoT solutions even a few years ago was much more challenging due to technical constraints around cost and capabilities. That has changed dramatically over the last few years.

Here's what is fueling some of the recent enthusiasm around IoT:

• Wide variety of sensors and devices exist and are getting cheaper and more powerful everyday. At the current rate, factoring in Moore's Law, there will be a $1 supercomputer, the size of a penny, by 2020.
• Network speed, bandwidth and latency has reached useful performance levels and wide implementation of 5G wireless is just around the corner.
• Distributed fog/edge compute models are being deployed just as blockchain trust authentication is coming into its own.
• A plethora of IoT platforms providing ample choice when it comes to managing devices, collecting data and acting on gathered information with assistance of AI and machine learning.

Why IoT?

"The Internet of Things is not only a new way to gather facts but also a way to gather new facts. Most data that is gathered automatically is data that has never been gathered before. When an organization adopts the Internet of Things, it gains knowledge where it was ignorant; moves from assumption to information; and understands new things." - Kevin Ashton

New ways of looking at things are the very genesis of disruptive technologies and business innovation. The kind of innovation that drives unprecedented results. So, the opportunities are staggering.

Don't leave your back door open...

For all its benefits, IoT deployments risk leaving a back door wide open for attackers to exploit. As the growth of IoT continues, tighter security controls must be adhered to in order to close the door and lock it shut. Even the most innocuous IoT devices should not go unsecured. If a device is left unmonitored and not considered part of the wider network infrastructure, that must be corrected.

Secure endpoint management is critical to a successful IoT technology launch and is where SOTI excels. With over 17,000 enterprise customers spread across 170 countries, SOTI has built a rock solid reputation for managing business-critical mobility and a wide variety of other endpoint devices. 84% of IoT adopters say they have experienced at least one security breach. The benefits that IoT brings are too good to pass up, but securely managing your endpoints is something you don't want to overlook.

Our goal at SOTI is to help you achieve the full potential of a connected world.

Are you looking to solve a business problem with an IoT solution?

Reach out and connect. Because connected, is the only way to be.

Michael Antinozzi - VP, Global Business Development - SOTI

Michael has over 20 years experience launching and growing profitable businesses, while delivering multi-million dollar technology solutions and consulting services to mid-tier and Fortune 500 companies. Known for his energy, integrity and drive to succeed, he is a business leader, inventor and mentor.

[email protected]

https://twitter.com/mantinozzi86