The foundation of the Internet of Things is not new. Connected embedded systems have long been a key component of many mobile, enterprise, and industrial markets. Now, however, the combination of more pervasive connectivity with the evolution of contextual and real-time analytics is (re)defining the IoT market’s potential.
Situational computation, operational uptime optimisation, and post-deployment content / functionality augmentation are just a few of the potential services now being enabled by the IoT, says Chris Rommel. The tight coupling of device functionality with operational business value is at the heart of IoT’s promise.
Designing-in Device Management
The ability to enable and successfully monetise these services, however, is far more difficult than the recognition of their potential value. Not only must organisations navigate a sea of entrenched, legacy technologies and corporate culture averse to change, but the established product design, delivery and service channels vary greatly from industry to industry. Successful IoT implementations often require new or enhanced partnerships to span and manage these increasingly complex supply chains.
The extended and evolving product lifecycles of IoT devices have rendered many traditional product design process and tools antiquated and/or incomplete. To date, many manufacturing organisations have focused on the incorporation or extension of connectivity technology within their devices as a means to enable their IoT service visions. As the requirements of the IoT come further into focus, it is becoming clear that manufacturing organisations must also proactively design-in technology to manage their devices once deployed. Solutions such as the recently announced Wind River Edge Management System, which integrates Wind River runtimes with PTC Axeda technology, and the Microsoft Azure Intelligent System Service will become increasingly critical components of comprehensive IoT product strategies.
IoT 3.0
The broader integration of – and pre-design planning for – device management technologies will mark the beginning of the second phase of the IoT market’s evolution as we transition from a state of exploration and experimentation. The third stage of our progress in the IoT market’s evolution, however, holds additional promise for manufacturers and requires greater integration of product development and deployment cycles. The information and insight yielded from continual connected product feedback can provide a mechanism to inform more intelligent design specification as well as true end-to-end requirement traceability and management. Such forms of continuous systems engineering not only support traditional lean manufacturing principles, but they will also become an increasingly important way for organisations to manage their own corporate agility and bring products to markets that deliver IoT service revenue as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.
VDC recently completed new research on this and related topics, the results of which will be published later this month in our IoT Services report.
The author is Chris Rommel, executive vice president, IoT & Embedded Technology,
VDC Research Group, Inc.
Chris is responsible for syndicated research and consulting engagements focused on development and deployment solutions for intelligent systems. He has helped a wide variety of clients respond to and capitalise on the leading trends impacting next-generation device markets, such as security, the Internet of Things, and M2M connectivity as well as the growing need for system-level lifecycle management solutions. Chris has also led a range of proprietary consulting projects, including competitive analyses, strategic marketing initiative support, ecosystem development strategies, and vertical market opportunity assessments. Chris holds a B.A. in Business Economics and a B.A. in Public and Private Sector Organisation from Brown University.
