Ramchandra Koty, Director of Engineering, Equinix
Ramchandra Koty, Director of Engineering, Equinix
The internet of things (IoT) market continues to rapidly evolve and expand. With companies at various stages of maturity in the IoT market, finding common ground in an ecosystem makes it possible to share best practices, co-innovate new products and services, and collaborate to solve various challenges.
The Global Interconnection Index 2023, a market study published by Equinix, found that businesses connected to the most ecosystems have expanded their digital operations more in the past five quarters than in the previous five years. Yet, there are several challenges to overcome.
IoT ecosystems attract companies with interconnected devices, platforms and services that can be combined to create cohesive, integrated systems for data collection, analysis and sharing. Other participating companies offer a wide range of supporting components such as gateways and networks, protocols and standards that connect them.
- IoT devices are the “things” in the IoT ecosystem, including sensors, cameras and other devices that collect and transmit data. IoT gateways act as a bridge between IoT devices and the rest of the IoT ecosystem components, helping to process and filter data before it is transmitted to other components.
- IoT platforms provide infrastructure for managing and analysing data. They enable the development, deployment and management of IoT applications and services, as well as the storage and analysis of data generated by IoT devices.
- IoT services are the applications and services that make use of the data generated by IoT devices. Examples include predictive maintenance, real-time monitoring and location-based services.
Advancing through four stages of the IoT maturity curve
As organisations adopt IoT technology, they progress through different stages of maturity. The IoT maturity curve is a framework that helps organisations understand where they stand in their IoT adoption so they can identify the next steps to fully realise the potential of IoT.
- Experimentation: Organisations are just starting to explore the possibilities of IoT by conducting small-scale pilot projects or experimenting with IoT technology.
- Implementation: Organisations now have a better understanding of how IoT can be used to improve their operations; they are starting to implement IoT solutions on a larger scale.
- Optimisation: Organisations have implemented their IoT solutions and are starting to optimise their use of IoT technology to continuously create and enhance their products and services.
- Transformation: Organisations have fully embraced IoT and are using it to drive digital transformation and create new revenue streams and business models.
Once companies reach the third or fourth stage of the IoT maturity curve, it is likely that they will be ready to start taking advantage of IoT ecosystems.
Identifying risks of IoT complexity
As the number of connected devices continues to grow, the IoT sector is facing increased complexity that needs to be addressed.
- Data volume: One of the biggest challenges facing the IoT sector is the sheer volume of data being generated by connected devices. This data must be stored, processed and analysed in real time, which can be a daunting task for many organisations.
- Security: IoT devices are vulnerable to hacking and cyberattacks, which can compromise sensitive data and put users at risk.
- Privacy: The collection and use of data from IoT devices raise concerns about privacy and the potential for misuse of personal information.
- Reliability: IoT devices and systems need to be reliable and robust to ensure they can be trusted to perform their intended functions.
- Standardisation: Lack of standardisation among IoT devices and platforms makes it difficult to develop interoperable systems and creates barriers to entry for new players.
Solving IoT challenges with digital infrastructure
Companies in the IoT sector require core underlying digital infrastructure such as:
- Network service providers to establish high speed, low-latency networks that securely connect with other partners within IoT ecosystems, ensure privacy and meet regulatory requirements.
- Cloud and SaaS providers to increase scale, offer compute, storage and application resources, and provide other technologies for performing real-time analytics and advancing AI/ML capabilities.
- IoT partners to establish and operate IoT platforms that interconnect ecosystems, including hyperscale cloud, system and software providers.
