IoT: a new frontier of opportunities
Where the internet has now revolutionised every aspect of daily life, there’s a new internet on everyone’s lips in recent years and that’s the Internet of Things, or IoT as it’s known in IT circles. The ecosystem of IoT “things” that’s growing around us is made up of data sensors, networks and devices that are all interacting and creating data to help enterprises manage their decision making in new and exciting ways.
As the next big frontier in the ongoing digital revolution, IoT is shaping up to be particularly important in the business world. Not unlike other digital revolutions such as cloud, IoT lets businesses reach new heights of data collection, allowing them to reduce their ongoing costs of doing business and increase productivity, while also enabling them to create previously unimaginable products, services and business models.
Although there are certainly significant opportunities for organisations in the world of IoT, successful implementation requires a comprehensive integration with current systems, as well as knowledgeable suppliers. In such an extensive new network of systems, there’s also increased demands on security as each data source requires its own unique protection. For a wide variety of objects, applications and sensors to communicate with each other, the computing power required is also significant.
So, what does IoT actually look like when it’s up and running? Many of the common examples for showcasing IoT’s possibilities have come from the world of manufacturing. IoT powered factories use enhanced inventory management and seamless production processes that use IoT data to enable significantly more effective automation. Between industrial machinery or everyday products like a washing machine, IoT data also allows operators to proactively schedule repairs before a fault even occurs.
NTT has developed its own innovative IoT offering in partnership with Toray in an IoT enabled undershirt called “hitoe” which has applications for medical diagnosis, healthcare and even sports training. Hitoe is a functional material capable of measuring biomedical signals as an electrocardiogram or electromyogram by applying NTT-developed conductive fibre technology which facilitates stable measurement.
Gartner has reported, by 2020, there’ll be an estimated 26 billion connected devices across the IoT landscape. On top of that, the demand for IoT solutions will be up around the $7 trillion mark. This is being driven by several converging tech events such as the current advances taking place in cloud, mobility and analytics.
To get an effective and successful IoT implementation off the ground, it’s essential to assemble suppliers and partners with the requisite knowledge and expertise. It’s a complex reconfiguration of networks and systems which also requires the orchestration of every external technology provider to ensure the players within your IT environment are all using agreed standards. In order to get started in IoT, organisations first need to sit down and agree on their desired outcomes, making sure they’re aligned to the business strategy.
IoT is set to be at the forefront of digital transformation efforts in every industry. That means there will soon be a much higher bar for achieving operational excellence. Regardless of the industry, IoT promises to unlock unseen business models, all of which will open up unprecedented opportunities to build a new competitive advantage in today’s digital economy.
About the author
As National Sales Director & General Manager Infrastructure at NTT ICT, my team and I leverage partnerships with tech leaders to develop tailored end-to-end technology solutions that consistently drive effective and efficient results, allowing our clients to better focus on their core business. If you'd like to discuss how your organisation could benefit from partnering with a premium global IT provider that delivers world-class solutions, feel free to get in touch with me today on 03 9230 9030 or at [email protected].