How IoT Will Power Business Processes In 2019

As advancing technologies integrate deeper into the everyday functions of businesses, companies are finding themselves faced with a paradigm shift towards a more intelligent and connected world. Amidst the maturing technologies leading this revolution is Internet of Things (IoT). By the year 2020, companies will be spending $310 billion in IoT every year. Some key IoT trends that can be expected to further gain tractions in the coming year are:

Centralised IoT systems will become a vital force to drive businesses:

A centralised IoT system delivered as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution can help businesses reduce their go-to-market cycle and increase the speed at which they innovate. It also helps them meet end-to-end security and scalability requirements – a key area of focus for most enterprises. The true potential of this will be unlocked when companies leverage this to integrate business workflows and take effective decisions, generating greater efficiency and savings.

More capable devices will reduce cloud dependence and enable disruptions:

IoT solutions often require devices to function in the real world while processing and decision-making happens on the cloud. With enterprises moving from Intelligent Cloud to Intelligent Edge computing, it is becoming possible for IoT devices to process data and take decisions themselves. This shift powers businesses to run data analytics directly on IoT devices, as opposed to the centralised cloud storage, allowing quicker processing and decision-making. With solutions aimed at enabling enterprises to develop capabilities within their network – or directly adopt them—transformation could be seen across industries.

Driving operational intelligence and insight with Time Series Management:

The challenge of utilising the true value of an IT infrastructure is becoming increasingly complex. Analytics is being used to counter this, by generating actionable, real-time insights, in an intuitive visualised form. This can be done for billions of time series measurements generated by numerous devices, helping businesses add contextualisation to incoming telemetry data.
End-to-end security and quick provisioning for IoT environments:

The network of connected devices is multiplying at a rapid rate. By the year 2020, this number is likely to reach 30 billion. This leaves them vulnerable to security threats. The growing regulatory and compliance requirements further complicate management. Firms are addressing this with the help of end-to-end protection for IoT engagement – safeguarding the lifecycle of their devices and adding a host of sophisticated security features. To further manage this expanding network, they are enabling ‘plug and play’ provisioning of connected devices, with zero-touch and at scale.

Geospatial context will provide companies with a competitive advantage:

By building location-aware IoT and mobility networks, enterprises can add detailed geographical insights to applications, and leverage it to provide customers with superior service. Focused API improvements, new data source and layering models, data-driven styling of layers, spatial math library, support for geospatially accurate circles, and backward capabilities are advancements that make this possible.

IoT networks will become a mission-critical asset, as businesses learn to utilise their full transformational power. Furthering adaptability, agility, and scalability, IoT will become integral to companies bringing ahead-of-the-curve products and services.

Virendra Chaudhari is Intelligent Cloud, IoT Global Black Belt & Sales Lead, Microsoft Corporation India – Financial Express