- Sneha Shankaranarayanan
Since the world changed in 2020, businesses seem to be on an upward trajectory of boosting digital transformation efforts. But along with that, they've also begun spending more on IoT solutions, infrastructures, and devices. And, the numbers show that.
One update from IoT Analytics said that spending on enterprise IoT solutions grew 12.1% in 2020 to $128.9 billion. What's more, spending on IoT hardware grew 5.4% in 2020, while spending on IoT cloud/infrastructure services grew 34.7% in the same timeframe.
But while we look at these numbers, there is also an increasing concern in the background. Despite all this spending, companies are still struggling to get the returns from it, monetary or business. And, that's what we'll address in this blog—identify where businesses are going wrong, what they should be prioritizing, and how to get closer to achieving the goals they set out for an IoT transformation. The other question that we'll answer here is how to make existing legacy systems or products IoT-enabled to integrate and work in an IoT journey.
First things first, let's look at the components needed to create a holistic IoT infrastructure. These include cloud infrastructure, application development, cybersecurity, software management, and systems integration. When businesses think of undertaking an IoT journey, they need to enable all these focus points to create an ecosystem that brings in the business value that IoT is capable of.
An ideal process should begin with implementing an IoT frame of mind and embedding the concept right into the design process. However, many organizations did not know that IoT would take this big a center stage when they procured systems that soon evolved to become business-critical. They have already invested a lot into these systems, now considered legacy, but do not know how to bring them into an IoT framework or architecture.
Apart from upgrading their legacy systems, businesses should also prepare their IoT strategy to go the long haul. Their strategy needs to consider the changing world, newer trends in the market and selecting and implementing the solutions that fit their personal goals. One way to go about it is by adjusting different components individually to work with their requirements from an IoT strategy.
The first thing in such an approach is the design itself. It's a known fact that IoT products can get quite complex to design with multiple layers that need to work in synch to get the results they were intended for. They need to be technologically sound, boost user experience, and be well-integrated with IoT infrastructures. Those who already have legacy systems can take the route of upgrading them to make them IoT-compatible, something that we, at Cambridge Technology, have already been helping customers with.
Next is firmware. Bringing in smart devices to a business is just the first step. Many companies struggle to engineer these devices in a way that works with the programming as well. Firmware engineering deals with just that—creating devices in a manner that perform with microprocessors, keep glitches and bugs away, and embed industry best practices.
Step three of the process is all about the stack and how it's integrated. One of the biggest returns on IoT is the operational efficiency and visibility it offers with hyperconnectivity. This is also the step that we help customers with through our IoT Development Services. Through the service, we help businesses integrate their applications better with the cloud — be it public, private, or hybrid. What's more, our Cloud Migration services simplify the process even more by helping customers select the right cloud, creating a roadmap, optimizing their infrastructures, and by keeping security and compliance needs met.
We also help businesses keep a constant tab of their device’s performance with advanced monitoring and analytics through our IoT Managed Services.
Now that we know what goes into getting the most out of an IoT journey, the next question is where do businesses begin. The answer lies in an honest-to-word assessment, like the ones we offer through AWS Well-Architected Review, which has now become an industry standard. During the process, we help customers assess their entire IoT infrastructure, check integrations, devices, performance, infrastructures at play, and set goals for the coming years.
In such efforts, expertise is what matters. Businesses need to partner with those who don't just help strengthen their existing IoT systems but are also aware of the trends out in the market. They need to know what solutions or services are out there and pick only those that garner the best results basis the set goals. This is also what we have been helping other businesses do. From upgrading their legacy systems to carrying out an entire end-to-end journey, our services ensure that companies stay well and ahead in a rapidly changing world. You can learn more about how we simplify the end-to-end journey from the link below.
