Why Internet of Things will drive businesses of tomorrow

With the Big Data revolution well and truly underway, the next wave of technology-led disruption is
likely to be led by the ‘Internet of Things’. This phenomenon of ‘Internet of Things’ is being ushered in using complex, real time analytics on cloud powered by Big Data. In this article we take a closer look at Internet of Things and how it stands to impact businesses.

What is Internet of Things?

The term Internet of Things was first coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999. The current avatar of the internet is completely dependent on human beings for creating information. The idea of Internet of Things is to have computers (things) that capture all important information around them without human intervention - like a sensor that can capture all the information about the air surrounding it, such as temperature, pressure, humidity, direction of flow, chemical composition etc. Now, if these computers or sensors are empowered to make decisions based on the information they capture themselves and automate things without human intervention, we have ‘Internet of Things’.

Internet of Things involves following facets:

1. Interaction of the physical world with digital components
2. Real time capture and analytics of data
3. The ’things’ or elements of the network that talk to each other continuously
4. Algorithms or decision rules (mostly developed based on machine learning) that prompt actions
5. Automated actions based on the rules - i.e. zero or minimal human intervention.

To put it in another way, the Internet of Things is an ecosystem of smart digital components having their own intelligence, and functioning in an autonomous manner.

A smart grid that decides when to generate how much power is an example of Internet of Things at work so is a smart building that automatically switches off the HVAC system the moment it doesn’t sense any movement inside it. A smartphone that goes into silent mode the moment it enters a meeting room is another such example.

Why is everyone so bullish about the Internet of Things?

One of the key business impacts that technology brings in is cost savings and efficiencies led by automation. Internet of Things can not only reduce human effort but it also promises to make processes more efficient and predictable through the use of technology. This is going to be increasingly possible as the quality of the sensors improves and the number of smart devices increases. As per the IDC estimates, the number of devices in the world will grow from 10 billion in 2014 to 50 billion by 2020.

This will mean that there will be 8 devices for every person in the world. Interestingly, it was only in 2008 that the number of devices outnumbered the number of persons. Thus, the number of devices is set to explode and with it the amount of data that can be captured and analyzed.

There is huge opportunity to develop innovative workflows based upon the Internet of Things. All that is needed is:

1. The ability to analyze real time streams of data - something which is made possible by big data
technologies,
2. Machine learning algorithms to establish rules
3. Implementation of this in the cloud. Naturally, all technology companies are very excited about this How is IOT impacting businesses and lives

While the concept of Internet of Things is still in early stages of its implementation, there are already cases where it is impacting businesses as well as our lives.

Vehicle Insurance - Truly risk based premiums

One of the innovations already being worked upon is smart vehicle insurance. The sensors in your vehicle would be able to capture all the data about the way you drive, how fast you drive, which routes you take, how many times you speed, how many times you apply breaks suddenly and maybe even how many calls you take while driving! Based upon these inputs the insurance company can assess your risk profile - real time and your next premium could be significantly higher or lower based upon the risk profile.

This approach is a win-win for both insurance providers as well as customers. For the insurance company, the sensors give a much accurate risk profile of the vehicle while for the customers - those who follow the traffic rules and drive safely have low premiums.

Home Automation - smart appliances that know your habits

Internet of Things is being extensively utilized for home automation. Sensors are fitted in various areas of the house which can sense movement, temperature, humidity, dirt etc. and can communicate with various appliances in home such as - AC, lighting systems, vacuum cleaners etc. The simplest use case of automation being, the moment the sensor doesn’t sense movement for more than a specific amount of time the lights are automatically turned off. The more complex use cases are like based on the time that you come back home from office and the weather outside at that time, the heating or cooling system automatically setting up relevant temperature.

With smartphones getting integrated with these appliances in your home, you can control all of this using your smartphone. Based on the your location details coming from your phone, the coffee maker, sensing that you will be home in 10 minutes, can send you an alert asking if it should be turned on so that when you come home in the next 10 minutes, you can have freshly brewed coffee.

How can Internet of Things impact your business?

The real power of the Internet of Things lies in the fact that it increases automation and improves efficiency. One of the key impact areas of Internet of Things for all the manufacturing businesses is predictive and preventive maintenance of machines and components. With sensors, capturing all working parameters on a regular basis, it is easily possible to spot unusual parameters resulting from inefficient performance of any of the components. For example, if the temperature of a specific component shows an unusual rise - one can have a closer look at the component. If there is excessive friction or damage and one can immediately act according to the findings. With analysis of historical data, it is possible to predict failures and problems if the patterns of failure are accurately spotted. With these patterns in place, preventive and predictive maintenance activities can be scheduled without having a deep impact on the business operations.

In the healthcare sector, sensors that capture patient parameters and analyze the data real time are revolutionizing the way healthcare is delivered across the globe. Consistent monitoring of health parameters is also aiding early diagnosis of diseases and providing inputs to medical practitioners in their treatment.

Internet of Things is drastically improving security and surveillance systems through improved surveillance based on real time analysis of feeds. Both physical and digital security are drastically improved due to sensors that can not only capture and transmit data real time, but also communicate with other ’things’ on the network to take timely actions based on rules.

This is just the tip of the iceberg! Innovative businesses that can leverage the power of Internet of Things will reap rich dividends in terms of savings on manpower, process improvement and automation.

Who knows next time your phone camera senses that you aren’t amused by what’s written in the article that you are reading on your phone, it might as well close the application automatically!

-- Mukund Deshpande, Head - Big Data & Analytics, Persistent System