Data, IoT and Cloud - The Secret to Success in the Age of Industry 4.0

We live in a data driven world with accelerated digital growth. Many cloud service providers are now coming up with Data and IoT specific solutions, enabling organisations to govern and monitor their activities in a better way.

Right now, we are facing challenges around security, infrastructure and connectivity. However, the Cloud, Big Data, and IoT industries are joining hands to mitigate these challenges.

Applications and Interactions between IoT and Data

There is no denying that IoT is playing a crucial role in revolutionising Industry 4.0. From the automotive sector, to manufacturing to smart cities and supply chains, it plays an important role across many industries.

With organisations worldwide adopting a digital approach, we are witnessing an unprecedented surge in the volume of information. The advent of IoT has enabled sensors, gateways, nodes, and edge devices to communicate with each other seamlessly, greatly boosting their efficiency.

This is possible because of Big Data and technologies like AI and ML. With the proper information structures, algorithms, and dashboards, organizations are now well equipped to monitor and handle their data. This allows them to take corrective measures well in advance, averting any disaster that might occur.

Now that we have seen how data and IoT sensors work together to increase efficiency, it’s time to take a look at the cloud.

How Data and the Cloud Interact

One of the most important factors accelerating digital journeys is the cloud platform. From modernizing businesses and applications, to centralising data, to developing cloud native applications, modern organizations find it difficult to live and breathe without data. By leveraging cloud platforms, organizations have learnt how to:

• Develop digital platforms
• Differentiate with data
• Monetise data

While increased digitisation is crucial for making data available to the software applications, the cloud is ensuring accessibility for the same by -

• Increasing the chances of collaboration
• Increasing on-demand access through a pay-as-you-go model
• Providing comprehensive analytics platforms for the analyzing large volumes of data

IoT and Cloud Platforms

Studies have estimated that the number of IoT-connected devices will cross 75,000,000,000 by 2025. It is expected that over the next few years, IoT will evolve, becoming an even more integral part of our lives than it already is. Some of the leading Cloud Service Providers are - 

• Google Cloud IoT

Google launched its platform for IoT development based on its end-to-end Google Cloud Platform. From ingestion to insights, companies now can leverage GCP’s wide range of IoT platforms to obtain valuable information from device data.

• Microsoft Azure

One of the most talked-about open-source systems designed for maximum interoperability is Microsoft’s Azure IoT platform. Azure IoT Hub and Azure digital twins enable customers to build a customized solution for complex IoT challenges.

• Amazon Web Services

Offering comprehensive IoT solutions, AWS connects and manages billions of devices. Through AWS’ IoT platform, one can accelerate innovation, secure applications through the Cloud and edge, and build intelligent solutions with AI and ML integration.

• Snowflake Platform for IoT

Snowflake’s platform provides the scalable architecture required to ingest diverse datasets. By being able to integrate with other public cloud platforms, Snowflake is an excellent choice to handle the vast amount of data generated by IoT devices.

• Cisco IoT Cloud Connect

Designed for mobile operators, the Cisco IoT Cloud Connect platform focuses on the management and automation of IoT service delivery, targeted at mobile network operators. With a complete set of features and functions in the industry, the platform provides a faster GTM.

Many public cloud platforms support IoT. Depending on your requirements, you can select the one that is the best fit for your industry. 

Use case

A use case where IoT, data, and the cloud intertwine is digital twins. However, the question arises, what are digital twins exactly?

Simply put, a digital twin is the representation of the physical process or service in a digital world. As technology progresses, the potential and impact of digital twin tech is becoming visible. Couple that with other technologies like IoT, big data and Cloud tech, and we can see digital twins becoming a powerful force across industries. By leveraging IoT sensors, digital twins can collate data and simulate physical scenarios in the digital world. Thanks to AI and related technologies, we are now well equipped to run simulations and predictive maintenance well in advance. 

Our point of view

Given that IoT devices need to a connection to the cloud in order to perform their primary functions, Cloud platforms are now becoming the foundation for most IoT deployments. The cloud also offers features such as easy bootstrapping, unlimited data storage, convenient device management, and more.

Centralized dashboards allow access to data visualization and analytics, making management of devices easy. The public cloud also ensures that IoT connections are secure, with continuous assessments of security levels, identification of security threats, and mitigation guidelines.

Deploying IoT solutions through public clouds also enables the solutions to embed a trigger in the workflow, allowing certain events to set off triggers and take necessary courses of action. With the ever-increasing adoption of cloud platforms for IoT solution deployment, going the public cloud way is a good choice. Calsoft’s expertise in Cloud and IoT can help you along your path.

--By Somenath Nag, Vice President of Marketing & Corporate Strategy, Calsoft

Read more IT news here

Read products news here