While the word ‘reset’ may have gained a bad reputation in the general sphere its’ meaning remains the same in computing – push the reset button and your system or device will re-boot and return to a functioning state. Many companies that have been in the IoT business for a while wish they could reset their business. Reasons obviously vary – here some examples:
Questions often asked are why, what to do and where to start?
Let us start with why?
By now we are used to the steady progress of technologies and software. While these do not happen as fast as we think 5 to 10 years make a substantial difference. In IoT this difference manifests itself on several fronts:
While none of these changes have been ‘revolutionary’, the combined result is that IoT solutions developed and implemented over five years ago are beginning to creak at the seams.
What to do?
It is therefore safe to say that many IoT solutions that were implemented 5 years ago are ripe for partial or complete upgrade. Exceptions are of course highly customized solutions with solid implementations that are resilient to any of the changes describes above. If they work, why fix them? At the same time, it is safe to say that even these solutions will need to be upgraded and pieces replaced during the next five years as the underlying technologies become obsolete and no longer supported by software, hardware, and communications providers. Given this, it is a matter of time before something must be done. Then what is this something?
Where to start?
Nearly all IoT solutions can be separated into for distinct parts; Thing (IoT device), Connectivity, Data Handling/Processing/Storage and Applications. These parts connect and communicate with each other over some type of mechanical, electrical, standards and protocol/API interface. The first task is to describe the four parts and the interfaces at some level of detail, document and put them into a diagram. The result is a systems view of the IoT implementation.
The next task is to assess the status of these interfaces and the IoT parts guided by some key questions:
The answers to these questions driven supported by the systems diagram will point out shortcomings or gaps in the current IoT implementation and identify the parts of the current IoT solutions that need to be upgraded to support a reset. At Triotos we work with customers to upgrade existing or implementing new IoT solutions using the AWS IoT core cloud computing platform around which we implement new or migrate existing IoT solution components. Using ready built reference solutions and products we can deliver the IoT you need in months instead of years and for <$100k instead of $ millions. To find out more, go to www.triotos.com.