Tag: IoT
At this point, due to several years of rapid technological advancement, we can safely estimate that there are billions of connected devices, and that number is increasing with each passing day. The Internet of Things (IoT), has become so commonplace, that we hardly even notice how they impact our businesses. We have a number of “smart” devices: interconnected and operating with synergetic effect. This provides a whole range of new opportunities for business enterprises across industries.
In the field service industry, companies are extending and taking advantage of IoT. Whether it is at the customer’s house or place of business or shop floor, service companies are finding new ways to improve operational efficiency and achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction. By utilizing the data collected from various connected devices and sensors, these companies can deploy personnel more effectively and provide better services. Improved data — and data collection methods — are driving the move to a more proactive approach in their maintenance and repair services.
The interoperability between devices and platforms
Field service technicians need interconnected devices and applications to achieve the optimal business value potential. Thanks to the greater availability of network access, field service technicians can see bigger payoffs from the constant connectivity among service providers, customers and dispatchers. As a result, they are able to make more and better real-time decisions, but only if they are able to get the right information at the right times. It also helps when they have faster and easier ways to collaborate with their colleagues and providers more effectively and efficiently, empowering them to make better, more informed decisions at the right times. When that happens, they get to complete their job on-time the first time. Providers with on-the-cloud field service applications, thus have the competitive advantage when compared to those that use only on-premise solutions.
Everything is changing
The connected devices, platforms and applications are changing the way field agents work. We all know that by now. The major impact here is the value of the real-time information generated and captured from the various endpoint assets, which literally changes the way we manage field service workforce. But on the flipside, these connected endpoints carry with it a few challenges as well, like data security and big data analytics. With so many devices, there can be an escalation in the amount of unwanted information that can get collected in the process. It can be a daunting task for enterprises to filter big data and extract useful insights from them. Field service companies need to make sure that they have the technology and the mechanisms necessary to maintain data integrity and also to share with the technicians, data that is relevant and related to the technicians relation with the endpoint device.
Wearables
Although wearables are still in their initial adoption phase for a majority of us, new wearable devices are coming on the market every day. The challenge is to find wearables that can be used in the context of a company’s business applications.
Most technicians have a problem of relating contextually relevant information from wearable end-points that have not considered carefully enough how to connect the technician to their tasks at hand. For the same reason, getting alerts, and updates to those in the field via wearables still remain challenges to its adoption.
Nevertheless, wearables are definitely increasing in adoption in the field service industry, but there are certain concerns that need to be addressed soon, like security, form factor and most importantly, making sure that sharing of data is relevant and is based on the field service agent’s relationship with the particular endpoint device or asset. Those companies that address this problem and focus on providing contextually relevant information along with a friendly user interface, will stand to gain.
It is anticipated that 75% of field service organizations, in the next 3 years, will be providing smart wearables like watches, glasses and the like, to their field technicians. This only means that the rest of the applications necessary to facilitate and support this kind of growth need to gear themselves up.
Image credits: Techradar
2016 will be the year when technology will bridge the gap between the physical and digital world. The Internet of Things and the rise of connected data will bring even more opportunities and also many new challenges. Keeping pace with the latest business technologies is crucial to stay ahead of this game. Listen how companies can lay strong foundations for incredible changes that are about to happen. In this videocast, we request our CEO Sam to take a stab at predicting technology trends that may materialize in 2016
The day when you’ll see the everyday things- from phones, cars and doors, to lights, refrigerators and washing machines, connected to the internet is not very far. In fact there are over 13.4 billion connected devices already and it is expected that the number of internet-connected devices will reach 50 billion by 2020.
In spite of becoming an integral part of personal lives, the IoT will also bring major paradigm shifts at every phase of businesses. Many companies have already started adopting IoT and to plan their business around it. There are only two options- either get ready to embrace this revolution and stay on top, or face the consequences.
The manufacturing business will have to bring major changes to be in the game, around software, data and connectivity mainly. According to Gartner’s 2015 overview of manufacturing industries, business intelligence and performance management are the top priorities of manufacturing sector and both these areas are heavily dependent on software and data gathering. Hence, Manufacturing is in the top list of industries looking to hire data and software experts.
The software everywhere helps make all devices programmable and narrows the gap between digital and physical. While software everywhere redefines the manufacturing industry, it also redefines the scope for audits, inspections and compliance because it brings with it new challenges. Let us see some of the challenges the Internet of Things will pose to audit, inspection or compliance sector in detail.
Challenges for auditors dealing with software everywhere
Auditing is not a walk in the park when it comes to organizations adopting new technologies and automating tasks with software everywhere. While the Internet of Things brings many rewards, it also poses serious risks, which if not carefully dealt with, can lead to organizational disasters.
Technologies move very fast and manufacturers are under pressure to keep pace. Each passing day there arise new laws to which the businesses, organizations, industries and agencies should conform. Most often, there might be less thought devoted to the risks associated with certain deployments of technologies in businesses, and the manufacturer, law bodies and compliance bodies may not be aware of all the risks. The IT departments are generally the ones bearing the brunt of the storm, with a variety of auditing issues, which if not managed properly can spoil the compliance and security of even the most ambitious organizations. One of the biggest challenges for them is to make sure that all the technology and software deployed adhere to multiple compliance standards. The internal auditors should stay abreast of the new IoT developments to foresee these risks and controls in their business.
While software everywhere will ensure quick, flexible, easy and smart business processes, such flexibility can also be a loophole to circumvent compliance requirements. For instance, a machine or a device can be programmed to identify that it is being inspected or audited, the software can recognize the test pattern and it can then generate results, which appear to be compliant to the audit. One way to overcome this problem is to adapt smart auditing strategies like those used by quality assurance professionals, who constantly deal with such issues. For instance, auditors could use heuristic based techniques, where audit design and execution are combined and the auditor explores the system to identify non-conformance to high-level heuristics.
Another key aspect to consider in the area of software, is regarding ownership. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) makes it unlawful for independent auditors to look at the code that runs on a machine, thus making it easier to conceal intentional wrongdoings. Unfortunately, this law can punish users and auditors who try to understand whether their software or system are compliant, or can be manipulated in a manner that it will endanger the consumers of the product manufactured by these systems. Another important challenge for audit regulators is the need for effective reporting to their stakeholders regarding audit performance, and the efficient conduct of audit inspections, which requires coordination among varied regulators and compliance with differing laws and regulations.
However, the good news is that, changes shall happen over the year 2016 that will make it possible for such business to conduct audits much efficiently, to check if they are compliant to legal norms like FDA or EPA norms and other good manufacturing practices.
Challenges for auditors dealing with large amounts of data
Increased use of computerized systems, smart manufacturing and decreased storage costs have led to generation of large amounts of data that are aggregated, coded and classified to enable good decision making. Auditors can derive value from this data and ensure that decisions made are based on solid, quality information that is trustworthy and relevant. This big data enables root cause analysis in cases where noncompliance or failure is detected, and can be used to provide a near complete picture of the system state at the point of failure. The availability of such valuable data can enable quicker corrective actions. Non-compliance issues detected years after the production can be safely traced back with retrospective auditions.
However, the unstructured nature of big data poses big challenge for the auditors. There need to be a good standard of managing the generation, classification and storage of data, for it to prove useful in auditing or inspecting activities. Data processing standards today do not cover the governance processes for management, storage and expiration of data. However, changes are expected in 2016 that will address the present state of big data with respect to the audit environments.
Challenges for auditors dealing with storage and ownership of data
Image courtesy: Cloud Lounge
In production environments, the data produced by the equipment and system used in production line are mostly stored in clouds. In the cloud, these data may be stored on storage devices that may not even be owned by the manufacturers who generate data, but will be owned by third party service providers, like analytic provider or storage service provider (like amazon). In such cases, it is not the manufacturer but the third party, who gets the ownership of these data. In fact, data may not be even stored in the same country. Such a 3rd party doctrine complicates the issue when confidential transitional data is stored by cloud server providers and this raises more issues like confidentiality and contract, availability of data for audits, and liability issues.
Challenges for auditors dealing with Connectivity
The Internet of Things (IoT) as we have all heard of has been around for quite a while and this year we saw a large number of connected devices flood the market. This is only going to increase and by 2020, we are expected to have over 50 billion connected devices. The Internet of Things is not just connected cars, cameras, and doors. IoT also extends to heavy machinery, to jet engines, oil drills and to connected devices and equipment in manufacturing and production, as well. As smart manufacturing gains momentum, more and more machines on the production lines are connected and online. Machines are connected to each other to exchange data, and to servers in the cloud to enable machine learning, monitoring, forecasting preventive maintenance, etc. This ensures cycle time reductions for corrective and preventive actions post audits. Remote monitoring and diagnostics can ensure that the product complies with the legal requirements. Connectivity can help conduct remote inspections eliminating the need for people to travel to the locations to get the audits done.
While connectivity brings the above advantages, it brings with it, its share of challenges as well. Poor security, for example on connected equipments can make systems vulnerable to hacking and systems can be compromised without the hackers having direct access to the systems. As a matter of fact, vulnerabilities in any connected device can compromise an entire system. The security of connected equipment will soon be an area of compliance for audits and inspections across industry segments. With time, it can even enable production to happen at the supplier’s end or the consumer’s end, rather than at the factory, which can further increase the risks for auditors and inspectors. They will have to take into consideration the entire chain of equipment that communicate with each other, and modify their audit strategies accordingly.
Everyone, who are in the business of audit and compliance are impacted by the IoT and by the fact that all the equipment we use are connected online, is programmable and is generating enormous amount of data. The auditors, inspectors and all of us in the audit and compliance field need to learn about the new skills and competencies pertaining to the software deployment, vulnerability detection and software compliance. The good news is that there are established practices in the software QA (quality assurance) industry, which can provide good reference points for those who wants to upgrade their skills. However, the hardest part is to change the mindset and culture among auditors and inspectors to adapt to this new paradigm of Software Everywhere. We need to move faster to adopt practices, processes, and new mindset and to learn new skills that will enable us to do a better job in auditing, compliance and inspections for devices that are connected, generate lots of data and are managed by software!
View this webinar on the ubiquity of software in the compliance industry, by Deepu Prakash, Head of Process and Technology Innovation at Fingent Corp:
What better place than Hollywood to see some “futuristic technology” in action, right? I’m talking about the hit science fiction series by James Cameron, “Terminator”! How many of you remember “Skynet”, the global intelligence machine that set out to destroy all of mankind in Terminator?
I’m sure none of you would have missed watching that evil machine with sensors everywhere, sending out terminators on its quest to destroy humankind.
The fact to be noted here is not that Skynet is an evil machine, but the level of technological advancement brought into light. We are more interested in the rich, sensor-driven network portrayed in the movie and what it could do. The Internet of Things (IoT)! Something that we’ve all been hearing about for quite some time now.
Now imagine having that kind of a network in our healthcare industry. The one industry that we all rely on, for our well being at all times in life. Imagine having that kind of sync and connectivity among all devices and people in a healthcare organization! We‘re talking about the Internet of Things working to save the lives of millions of people.
According to a report released last year by Swiss research firm, Soreon Research, by 2020 connected wearable devices alone could be able to save an estimated 1.3 million lives. Another report from MarketResearch.com says that by 2020, the IoT market value in healthcare will be close to $117 billion.
As exciting as that sounds, it is also likely to bring with it a huge revolution for the industry. And the good news is that, it’s here finally and it’s here to stay. Revolution is just around the corner and it’s time for healthcare organizations to gear up to facilitate the change.
Advocates of IoT say that it will make treatments much smarter and better suited to the needs of each individual patient and will also eliminate medical errors. It is also expected to change the way that severe and costly conditions, like heart diseases and diabetes are treated.
Now the real question is, how should healthcare organizations prepare and plan for such technology oriented future? Especially when concerns related to cybersecurity still remain.
Bill Betten, Principal at Sysgineering Solutions, who has also worked for firms like Nonin Medical, Logic PD and 3 PM says, “ One should definitely take advantage of the connectivity by building it in; it is hard to add it in after the fact. But I would encourage device companies to have a conversation around the strategy for incorporating into the future product offering.”
According to Betten, there are some things that could help organizations prepare for the future.
- Looking back – According to Betten, a historical perspective can go a long way. He says, “I would argue that a lot of medical connectivity started in the late 80s and 90s. Looking back to this time period can give useful perspective in understanding what is happening in with IoT in healthcare.”
Back then there was always the urge to digitize radiology-based imaging, but there were obviously technological and standard based obstructions for it. But in the later 90s, there were several manufacturers that came up with several methods for the same purpose and in 1997, the New York Times finally declared that digital x-ray systems were beginning to replace film-based x-rays. This was because of the DICOM standard, which evolved from the ACR/NEMA 300 standard finalized in 1985. Before the standard, all radiology images used to be disconnected. But with DICOM, images could be shared worldwide, they could be duplicated and machines from different manufactures could communicate. Other devices, such as blood pressure cuffs and oximeters, have also been advanced because of such support from the standards.
Hence, Betten says that the first lesson of the IoT is interoperability. - Value proposition – Betten feels that there is definitely a need to study the value proposition of integrating IoT into medical devices and also the entire IoT healthcare landscape, to understand how much money is being spent on using the technology for different applications. There is a need to determine the exact utility of using the technology and not just the benefits.
Although there is a lack of sufficient data supporting this fact, the most money is likely to be spent on taking care of the chronically ill. Forbes in January of 2013 had stated that 5% of the sick population is responsible for 50% health care costs. Betten feels that utilizing the IoT to bring down these figures and make the treatment of chronic diseases much more effective and efficient could be a possible investment. - Questions – As with any technology, there may be a dozen promises on the benefits of using it, but there is a need to consider the physical, social, economic and political environments as well before going ahead. When EMRs came, they had the promise of an annual savings of $81 billion annually, but in reality, they actually failed to bring down the healthcare costs. It was not a technological problem though.
Any technology like the IoT, as well as, the EMR may have great potential, but the fact remains that they may not be able to deliver the said promises because of other factors like the ones mentioned above.
The strategy needs to be thought out well and hard before deploying any solutions, considering all possible factors that can influence productivity and efficiency.
Security concerns also need to be addressed, as these days, along with the growth of technology is also the growth of ways to break in. Financial institutions are looking for advanced ways to protect the customer’s money and so are hackers for utilizing identity theft to steal important data. Medical-related data always forms a huge part of such important confidential information as they can lead to Social Security Numbers and the like. Hence, it is extremely important to use high level security features with IoT.
“For the IoT to be meaningful, you need interoperability, security and a reason for putting it together. And a knack at coming up with good answers to tough questions.”-
Betten
You and your business are in the midst of a spanking new industrial revolution, driven by technology that binds all living things and nonliving things, everywhere, anytime – the Internet of Things! Staying relevant and in the picture will not be as easy as before for businesses. The S7P 500 index shows how the average lifespan of companies has fallen from 61 years in 1958 to just 20 years in 2015. This is expected to fall further, making it too hard for companies to strive. Companies should be prepared for what’s ahead, conduct researches, listen to experts, keep a watch on latest analysts, reports, observe your market and trends to anticipate the changes that your business will take.
So, what technologies in the year ahead will play crucial roles in the success of your business?
Let’s see some of these:
Providing better user experience through web based platforms:
Businesses can utilize the potential of latest technologies to the maximum to offer personalized experience for customers, and to create better and meaningful relationships with them. There are several ways you can improve the customer experience through web based platforms: Developing an online customer advisory community, integrating social media intelligence, adopting face recognition methods using augmented reality in sales, etc. are a few examples. Business strategist and futurist at Altimeter, Brian Solis says, “The customer experience is a very human emotion, it is the sum of every engagement that a customer has with your business”. Researches show that 98% of customers agree that poor customer experience means going for another option.
Make sure your business has a flexible/scalable technology:
If you plan to win a marathon, would you invest in cheap trainers falling apart in the first half? Likewise, while making tech purchase decisions for your business, keep in mind the brighter side your business will get into through it. Go for tech that can evolve in pace with your business. For instance, it has always been wiser for small businesses to use cloud applications or cloud based business platforms if they aim to grow fast, in order to accommodate their growing customer demands seamlessly. New features and functionalities can be easily integrated into cloud platforms with growing business needs. The vendor can also manage the updates ensuring everything runs smoothly. There is little overhead on the business owner, who can forget the system and focus on the business goals.
Connectivity:
Offer a reliable, widespread internet connection to ensure the information you and your employees need are readily available. This allows the employees, owners and partners to have secure access on their own devices enabling tasks on the go and increasing their productivity. Onsite Wi-Fi access is critical for companies which deal with daily interaction with customers. Wi-Fi CRM also helps businesses to get details about their target audiences who uses the Wi-Fi, which in turn can be used to provide personalized experiences for customers.
Social Media Branding:
Almost all your customers use most social media sites out there. Social Media is a comfortable medium for you to reach out to your target customers instantly. Businesses can raise their brand awareness via social media among current and prospective customers. Your brand pages in Social Medias like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn is a great way for you to interact with customers (via emails, updates, messages or push notifications), promote your brand, market your products and also obtain customers’ opinion about the products via feedback. It enhances the way in which your business communicates with customers, clients and suppliers by increasing responsiveness and in turn, improving the reputation of your brand.
Mobile First:
First and the foremost thing to do for your business is to have a Mobile friendly website or a Mobile App of its own, to enable business owners manage their tasks in their own mobile devices. In coming years, businesses will serve customers more through mobile apps which is why you see most online websites encouraging users to make purchase through their mobile apps. Technology giants like Apple, IBM and HP investing more in mobility is another hint of how large this market is going to get. Enterprises will create new and native apps taking advantage of the device’s unique features and form factors. Businesses will also increasingly incorporate mobile payment system into their apps offering fast, secure and easy payments online. It provides new ways of payment system for customers through chip card technology in credit cards and mobile bill payment applications.
API- first design is opening a new door to software development. In a multi-platform environment, API first principles allow to create quick and efficient products and experiences that work across any kind of device. ‘Develop an API First – Before building the website, mobile , web, or single page application and then you get to work on defining the channels you will be making the API resources available on’. All the major players in market, like Oracle, IBM, Intel and others have been preparing for the API-centric software development for years.
Security:
Whatever technology you opt for in your business, security and privacy should be its primary feature. Every app, software, hardware or platform used must be self-aware and self-protecting. You can’t compromise the company’s confidential data for a better user experience; rather everything should be an integral part of the system.
Preventive maintenance through IoT:
In critical business environments, it is important to ensure continuous uptime by diagnosing and preventing malfunctions in real time. Previously, companies used to send field technicians to perform routine checkups and preventive maintenance on fixed schedules. Recently companies started fitting equipment with sensors to alert operators when there are chances for things to go wrong. With the power of Internet Of Things and machine to machine communication, your business can analyze operational data and take predictive actions in real time. This will help your business to predict resource availabilities and take actions before problems occur. You can predict equipment malfunctions even before they occur and take preventive actions.
This year, make a wish to give your business the latest, best-in-class tech, and we are here to help you achieve that.
In conclusion, evolving your business with technology can be a game-changer for improving efficiency, reducing costs, and boosting productivity. However, it’s crucial to approach technology adoption strategically. Partnering with a custom software development company can provide businesses with the expertise needed to identify the right technology solutions that align with their goals, budget, and resources.