Dean Hamilton

Author Archives: Dean Hamilton

IDG Contributor Network: Best practices for IoT security

The Internet of Things (IoT) is projected to grow significantly over the coming years. Research firm Gartner Inc. has estimated that 8.4 billion connected things were in use worldwide in 2017, up 31% from 2016, and expects the number to reach 20.4 billion by 2020.This growth is being driven by the promise of increased insight, enhanced customer satisfaction, and greater efficiency. These benefits are made possible as sensor data from devices and the power of Internet-based cloud services converge. One of the key concerns related to the successful adoption of the IoT is having sufficiently strong security mechanisms in place throughout the ecosystem—to mitigate the increased security risks of connecting devices to the Internet.To read this article in full, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: The future of IoT device management

The Internet of Things (IoT) continues to expand its reach into homes, businesses, social settings, and other environments, as more and more devices are connected with the purpose of gathering and sharing data.Clearly, there are several potential benefits of IoT from a consumer standpoint. Apart from the convenience aspect, smart connected products can lead to increased energy efficiency, improved safety and security, higher product quality, etc.But unfortunately, the current consumer IoT device landscape is still immature. For consumer IoT devices to thrive, device management capabilities need to evolve in a few ways.IoT device management is the process of authenticating, provisioning, configuring, monitoring and maintaining the device firmware and software that provides its functional capabilities. Effective device management is critical to establishing and maintaining the health, connectivity, and security of IoT devices. IoT application vendors typically provide comprehensive device management with their solutions. But all bets are off if that application vendor goes out of business and you would like to use your devices with a similar application from a different vendor. Consumers are increasingly faced with unexpected device obsolescence and landfills are starting to fill up with expensive IoT bricks. What consumer IoT needs is a truly Continue reading

IDG Contributor Network: New IDC report forecasts huge growth for IoT

In case you’re still not sure about the viability of the Internet of Things (IoT) as a business concept, some new findings from research firm International Data Corp. (IDC)—predicting significant growth for the market in the coming years—should be convincing.In addition to a rise in investments in IoT products and services, the IDC research describes how software and services will play a major role in the success of IoT project.According to the IDC study, worldwide spending on the IoT is forecast to reach $772.5 billion in 2018. That represents an increase of 15% over the $674 billion that will be spent on IoT in 2017. The new update to the firm’s Worldwide Semiannual Internet of Things Spending Guide forecasts worldwide IoT spending to sustain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% through the 2017-2021 forecast period, surpassing the $1 trillion mark in 2020 and reaching $1.1 trillion in 2021.To read this article in full, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Don’t get caught in an IoT security nightmare

Developing an IoT security competency and implementing an IoT risk assessment program should be an important strategic focus for any company implementing an IoT strategy.A great race is underway among companies in the industrial sectors to be leaders in the Internet of Things (IoT) realm. Companies are off and running in their plans to execute IoT strategies, and many are already connecting all manner of “things” to gather and analyze data about product usage and performance, factory output, maintenance issues, etc.The proof is in the spending. A June 2017 report by research firm International Data Corp. (IDC) said spending on IoT in 2017 was expected to grow 17% compared with the previous year, reaching more than $800 billion. By 2021, IDC said, global IoT spending is expected to reach about $1.4 trillion, including hardware, software, services, and connectivity that enable IoT.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Addressing the Great IoT Analytics Skills Gap

Expect to see a huge uptick in demand for people who have technology and business skills related to the Internet of Things (IoT), as organizations continue to ramp up their IoT projects in a big way.A new report by 451 Research notes that finding IoT-skilled workers is a big challenge. Nearly half of the 575 IT and IoT decision makers the firm surveyed, primarily in North America and Europe, said they face a skills shortage for IoT-related tasks.The skills companies need to acquire include expertise in areas such as cyber security, networking, device hardware, applications, and overall management of IoT strategy. But perhaps nowhere will demand be greater in the coming years than in areas related to data analytics. As companies seek to use IoT data to predict outcomes,  prevent failures, optimize operations and develop new products, advanced analytics competency—including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML)—will be critical to their success.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Seeing double: why IoT digital twins will change the face of manufacturing

If your organization is planning to leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) to gather data from products and systems, see how goods are performing in the field, enhance factory production, or any other reason, it needs to become familiar with the concept of the “digital twin.”A digital twin is a digital replica of a physical asset, process, or system that can be used for a variety of purposes. The digital representation of an object provides both the elements and the dynamics of how the object operates throughout its life cycle.The digital twin is intended to be an up-to-date and accurate replica of all elements of a physical object for which sensor data is available. Digital twins integrate technologies including artificial intelligence, machine learning, predictive analytics, and sensor telemetry to create digital clones of live and historical performance of physical machines and idealized digital simulation models that evolve based on the data collected from real-world instances.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: 3 requirements of a successful long-term IoT strategy

Is your organization looking to get a piece of the Internet of Things (IoT) action? You’re not alone. IoT continues to draw lots of attention from companies across a multitude of industries, even though few organizations have actually launched full-scale projects to connect objects and gather and analyze data from connected things.But whenever a technology trend gathers real steam, it’s tempting to quickly jump onto the bandwagon before there’s a concrete plan in place, if for no other reason than to appear savvy and competitive. This approach would be a mistake with IoT, as it would be with any other major technology project.Before launching an IoT initiative, organizations need to have a comprehensive strategy in place. Otherwise, there’s a risk of overspending, exposing data to security and privacy threats, limiting the payback from IoT technologies, as well as other negative outcomes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Internet of Things helps fuel growth of data lakes

Data lakes, storage repositories that hold extremely large amounts of raw data in its native format until the data is needed by users, are becoming increasingly popular within enterprises.Helping to fuel interest in data lakes are the digital transformation efforts underway at many enterprises, spurred by the emergence of the Internet of Things (IoT). The connected objects in the IoT will generate huge volumes of data.As more products, assets, vehicles and other “things” are instrumented and data ingested, it’s important that IoT data sets be aggregated in a single place, where they can be easily analyzed and correlated with other relevant data sets using big data processing capabilities. Doing so is critical to generating the most leverage and insight from IoT data.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here