Imagine a world so connected. As you lock the doors of your house to leave for work, your car heats up by itself to ensure you have a cosy comfortable ride , enroute your car monitors your drive and can alert you of possible routes for traffic jams or any speeding vehicles coming your way . As you park your car in the office basement, your desktop boots up and the coffee machine has your cappuccino ready. Sounds like a StarWars world? Well the Internet of Things( IoT) makes all these possible and that is why it is being labeled the next big thing in the tech world after Cloud , mobility and Big data. Adaire Fox-Martin, senior vice president, Industry, Value and Solutions , SAP Asia Pacific Japan speaks on how organization can leverage IoT and Machine-to-Machine( M2M) interaction in the future to spearhead new benchmarks of productivity, automation and ease.
How does SAP define the Internet of Things?
Adaire Fox: The IoT such as smart cities, connected vending machines, connected cars and smart homes will change the way we live our lives today and open new business scenarios for companies across industries like utilities, retail, automotive, public sector and healthcare.
We look at all smart machines, whether wiror unwired, and see them as extensions of mobile devices; they all need to be secured, managed, and enabled to run applications in much the same way as a mobile phone. M2M Communication is increasingly possible via what is known as the IoTs and the intelligent sharing of information between various machines/devices/gadgets. Managing this smart machine to machine (M2M) evolution requires a comprehensive architecture and technology solutions that we're working on with our partners.
And how can this change the way things are done in this world?
AF: With advances in RFID, miniaturization and analytics, M2M makes the IoT an increasingly tangible possibility. Think of such M2M communication as the "social collaboration" of machine-to-machine or machine-to-man. Such technology is beginning to mature where innovations in Big Data Analytics, combined with Mobility and GPS, allow tailored promotions to be offered to consumers on their mobile devices.
We see IoT as the ultimate social media collaboration of man and machine - a step above M2M, which is primarily used to collect vast amount of machine data from network-connected embedded microprocessors. We expect it to integrate data from machines, ERP, CRM systems, social media etcetera in real-time, allowing humans to intelligently interact with devices, devices with devices, and devices back to humans.
What are some of the associated pieces of technology (for e.g RFID, Big Data, in-memory computing) that will need a boost in adoption before IoT becomes a reality?
Sign up for Computerworld eNewsletters.