The Internet of Things (IoT), is a vast and growing universe of connected products ranging from fitness trackers and smart TVs to self-driving cars and virtual assistants. It has the potential to disrupt a wide variety of industries. Consumer products are expected to be the largest vertical in terms of IoT spending by 2020. Others include: manufacturing (24%), public sector (23%), services (15%), infrastructure (9%) and financial services (3%).
Plugging into the IoT isn’t simple. It requires a full and complete retrofit of operations, so whatever the use case is for IoT, an organization’s CIO must anticipate critical challenges.
6 Things to Consider
1. Privacy and Security
According to IDC, security and/or privacy concerns ranked as the number one hindrance to IoT deployments among IT decision-makers worldwide. Deploying IoT means constant updates and improvements to keep up with industry best practices, as well as privacy and security concerns. IoT service providers must ensure that enterprise and customer data is going to be safe.
Privacy concerns from hacked data can quickly become an IoT nightmare. The digital ecosystem in IoT tends to have customization that spans a variety of different devices. Since there’s no one-size-fits-all IoT solution, there’s no standard security certification (such as those associated with Microsoft, Dell or Cisco) to help keep it safe.
2. Interoperability Standards
The wide variety of parts and pieces included in IoT have to work together to ensure flawless execution. It’s important for whoever heads up an IoT project to check for things like secure key storage or tamper protection in each and every piece of hardware throughout the system to verify security.
Additionally, all the operating systems that could be involved must be considered. Beyond ensuring an app is compatible with iOs and Android, networks outside Ethernet, like LAN or ZigBee, must be negotiated as well.
3. Hosting
Once you’ve decided how the cloud will work into your IoT solution, the right application service provider (ASP) can provide offsite hosting solutions to lighten up your in-house infrastructure investment.
4. Data Connectivity
Data connectivity, although vastly improved, can still be an IoT implementation challenge. It involves how IoT devices talk to the gateway and the cloud, and what data format they generate. Most IoT gateways available are compatible with general packet radio services (GPRS) and Wi-Fi/LAN, but legacy devices depend on programmable logic controllers (PLCs), telemetry systems and remote terminal units (RTUs) to generate data. So there’s a need for a suitable edge layer that translates transport and data format protocols to send data to the IoT platform. Defining the right combination of transport and data format protocols ahead of deployment will go a long way in helping to ease this process.
5. Incorrect Data Capture
An unfortunate occurrence of the inability of the software to handle certain variances in run time, could cause incorrect data could be recorded, resulting in inaccurate analytics that may not help in making better decisions.
6. Scalability
Consider scalability from the outset and make choices that will allow you to move from design to prototype to wide-scale deployment smoothly and efficiently.
Learn from IoT Experts
These issues are major factors in influencing the decision-making process for enterprises and potential customers in order to ensure a successful IoT deployment. Prepare your organization today with Internet of Things training from IEEE. Our program is a series of eight training courses, led by top researchers in the field, to give your organization the foundational knowledge it needs now in preparation for the Internet of Things.
Resources
Lamp, Michael. (March 2018). IoT for Enterprise: 4 Concerns to Consider Before Deployment. Avnet.
6 key IoT Implementation Challenges for Enterprises to consider. Saviant Consulting.
Hilton, Scott. (14 Apr 2014). 30 Billion “Things” To Consider: How IoT Will Transform Enterprise IT. Dyn.
Marcotorchino, Remy. (27 Jun 2017). Industrial IoT Deployment Challenges: 10 Things Every Business Must Consider. Sierra Wireless.
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