IOT And Its Categorization
IoT (Internet of Things) is a network of connected physical things which collect, send and act on data from various surrounding sources. The term has been around for more than a decade but recent years have shown a magnificent jump in its usage. Its implementation has penetrated not only in industries but also in our homes. IOT can be broadly categorized in following ways:
- Physical Hardware:
Hardware devices such as sensors, speakers, switches, etc. are the base on which Internet of Things is conceptualized. Any hardware device which collect data from surroundings and act accordingly can become a major player in IoT network.
- Services:
A service is something which provides data from one source to another. With IoT, any device data can’t be considered invaluable and thus can be exchanged with any other third party. Data from a hardware device can be exchanged in return of business to any other relevant companies.
- Data Driven:
The data gathered at IOT server/cloud is can passed to any third-party vendor which shows the data to end user in a readable format. If hardware devices are smart, then so needs to be the one who is acting upon the data collected by them. This category utilizes data analytics to further support IOT operations in one form or other.
Now that you know how IOT can be used in different ways to enhance business, let’s take a deep dive into the relationship between data driven marketing and IOT.
Data driven marketing:
Data driven marketing for any platform can be considered as a technology that is based on data provided by various sources. In today’s fiercely competitive world, data is considered a very important entity. Data collection has itself seen a major boom in the recent decades. The trick is to merge data from different sources and produce an even better yielding and valuable data. Let’s understand this by an example of real estate online platform. If a user searches for any property on one website, then automatically he/she will be bombarded with various other suggestions in different applications / browsers that are relevant to him/her in the upcoming days. This is not a mere coincidence. This is nothing but data driven technologies at work which triggers various similar sponsored ads to a specific user based on relevant data. The scope for data driven technology is itself quite huge which can be understood by growing investment in this sector by almost every big company.
Data drives market for various companies. In fact, data is many a times directly sold out when it is quite crucial to a company. This has seen only positive trends in recent years. With growing demand the quality of data collection as well as data analytics is increasing.
IOT data:
IOT data is something which is collected by various hardware devices and stored in a cloud or private server. The value of this data has been increasing with ever growing technology of IOT devices which collects this data. Let’s see how IOT data is created and then becomes much more valuable after proper processing. Let’s consider a scenario where CCTV cameras are installed at a workplace along with various motion sensors. CCTV cameras capture video of each activity that is happening around in workplace and stored in a discrete location which can be accessed only with proper authentication. Motion sensors blows a siren as soon as people wander into restricted places of the workplace. Now all of this is connected to Internet and data is collected at different places. Let us consider a situation where motion sensor data is combined with data collected by CCTV’s. Now in a data driver IOT implementation this motion sensor will be connected to Internet which will trigger a video message to concerned person using CCTV data whenever motion is detected in the restricted area. This will not only enhance user experience but also provides a lot more feature which were earlier not possible. Also, now there will be no need to keep your CCTVs turned on all time and store video of restricted place which is not of any use to anybody. This is will in turn save space and help in cost reduction as well in many other ways. This is the power of IOT data. Any data collected by IOT devices can be put on a network to find even a more powerful purpose. The scope of innovation is enormous in this field as this opens a new world of possibilities.
Predictive maintenance:
Another big implementation of IOT data is in Predictive maintenance. As the name suggests, Predictive Maintenance is nothing but forecasting future for maintenance of devices based on patterns to help save money as well as time. Let’s understand this by an example. Consider a huge machinery used in some industry. Various sensors are attached to it which looks out for the performance of that machine. These can include finding friction between various connections, easy of movement of its parts, speed of operation, duration of operation, etc. Now data of all these sensors and devices is collected and stored in a remote location where analysis is performed. This is where Artificial Intelligence comes into picture.
The analytic software will be able to predict when a machine needs to be repaired based on IOT data which is collected by various small sensors and devices. This will help in prediction maintenance cost as repairing is done before the machine breaks. It not only saves money but also saves time for the industry which otherwise would have got wasted if it was broken first and the repaired. This is the strength of data driven technology which is enhanced by IOT data.
Conclusion:
Being crucial for industries does not imply that it is invaluable for household IOT devices which we commonly find around us. In fact, fascinating results are observed when data from such variety of sources is clubbed together and then marketed in a way which was earlier not possible. It opens a new range of products to make our life comfortable and easier than ever. In a way, IOT data is carving a new way for transforming world into a better place.