Introduction to Alternative New Approaches to IT Delivery
The concept of alternative IT delivery models has been popular for last several years. This isn’t a new concept. But the circumstances resulting from the Covid- 19 pandemic have underlined the importance of these models.
During the last couple of years, businesses have realized how crucial these alternative approaches are. We get to see that companies are quick enough to adopt these new approaches were the ones that remained unaffected during the pandemic times.
What are some of the significant alternate IT delivery models? Let’s look at the three most popular alternate models:
• IaaS (Infrastructure as a service): The “Infrastructure as a service” model has immensely simplified things for businesses when compared to the corresponding scenario of the past. In the bygone era, companies were necessitated to maintain their exclusive servers for hosting IT infrastructure. But now, things have changed for the better!
Business entities of modern times are enabled to store this infrastructure in the cloud. Also, they can do that without losing control over pivotal elements like operating systems and cyber security. And here, payment needs to be made only for cloud space that a company has used. There are no extra cost involved.
• SaaS (Software as a service): In the SaaS model, the delivery of software takes place through the Internet. Here, there is no need to buy the software package. Under “Software as a service,” users have the choice of buying only those services they require. It is not mandatory to buy the entire package. With this delivery model, access is gained to numerous applications in the cloud, along with the convenience of automatic app updates.
• PaaS (Platform as a service): “Platform as a service” provides a third-party platform where organizations can build and operate their applications. These platforms are inclusive of all apps and tools that are essential for present-day software development. This feature helps companies in saving costs, in a big way.
Alternative IT delivery models- Key points At this point, it will be only appropriate to succinctly focus on some key points related to these new delivery models.
• Increased dependence on alternative delivery models has become possible predominantly due to the advent of sophisticated and proven digital technologies. • As a result of these technologies, we can have unique ecosystems, which act as a unified platform to offer ranges of products and services to customers. • These innovative delivery models benefit in many unprecedented ways. Companies now has the ability to increase their capacities, within a short span of time according to market conditions. • However, these new delivery models are being viewed only as optional by many. The market experts are emphatically predicting that in the subsequent few years these alternative approaches are going to completely revolutionize the global business environment and associated IT portfolios. • We must understand that not all delivery models are suitable for every business. The most viable model for a given organization is dependent on factors such as the business itself, technologies involved, and user experiences preferred.
IoT Devices and Metaverse – An Overview
With the help of advanced technology, the internet has been evolving continuously. The latest internet version known as Web 3 is creating waves because of the Metaverse launch promising a virtual 3D world that emulates the real world. The virtual universe promised by the Metaverse is having an incredible influence on global population that expects a whole new world to open before them as if depicting a modern-day fairy tale. The tech industry is upbeat about the enormous prospects of the Metaverse which they prefer to use as a hub for experimentation. They look upon Metaverse as a fountain of resources for innovation that can have far-reaching effects on the industrial and business fronts. In a nutshell, Metaverse is an agglomeration of technology gadgets to create a platform connected to Blockchain, IoT, Artificial intelligence, and other technologies including medical technology.
Connecting technologies – the need for IoT The networking abilities of IoT will play a crucial role to enable Metaverse to deepen its roots and spread its wings further for achieving the goal of providing the virtual space of our dreams. The immense networking capabilities of IoT technologies is expected to expand the Metaverse universe and help unlock new opportunities for individuals, industries, and society. IoT will empower Metaverse and help to overcome limitations and expand its reach across domains. A seamless connection between the virtual spaces and the real world is enabled by IoT technologies and devices.
How Metaverse can revolutionize IoT? While bolstering Metaverse, IoT is likely to undergo drastic changes and will set new standards in connectivity and networking. The Metaverse universe will boost and leverage the processing and computing powers of Cloud, which will not only allow effective data transmission in real-time but also enhance the inter-operability between IoT digital data and VR & AR devices. Computation speeds are bound to increase manifold with the VR & AR technologies interacting with IoT data.
Metaverse using IoT – Current Scenario Metaverse and IoT will go hand in hand and complement each other, helping each other in gaining a strong foothold. IoT technologies and the data from IoT devices are allowing people to get a feel of how things will play out in Metaverse where physical, virtual, and augmented reality converges. As Metaverse aims to become an extension of the real world, IoT will be a great enabler of connected technologies enabling real-time user interactions.
Conclusion IoT will play a pivotal role in creating the desired connectivity between technologies like 5G, VR, AR, MR, Blockchain, and AI that together creates a fully connected Metaverse world. It is interesting to note that the speed at which the newer technologies are changing human civilization. Adoption of Metaverse and associated applications will provide another area for new technology adoption to positively impact human civilization.
Connecting IoT and Big Data- A Solution-Oriented Approach
Digital technologies are developing at a rapid pace; they are making things simpler and more effective for individuals and businesses. Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data are two major technologies driving this growth. IoT and Big Data have significant influence on enterprises and individuals as the insights from the analysis and interpretation of data, drive decision making across all levels.
IoT and Big Data: IoT technology provides connectivity to most objects used in daily life. During the initial phase of the digital era, the focus was solely on enabling Internet access for computers and telephones. But with the arrival of IoT, the scope of prevalent technologies has expanded in a big way.
Today, it won’t suffice if only the phone and computer have Internet connectivity. With the advancement of IoT, any item/ objects such as watches, televisions, automobiles, microwaves, machines, air conditioners, and devices can have Internet connectivity. Users are able to monitor and control all these things from remote locations.
All IoT devices that are connected generates huge volumes of data. There are many other data sources as well. All these data could be of varying formats like numeric & texts, images & videos, analog data such as current & voltages, and so on. Analysing this huge volume of unstructured data requires models that are based on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. The advancements in AI & ML techniques are driving strategies and day-to-day operations across the world.
IoT and Big Data connectedness- More points: Let us get into some details on the connection between IoT and Big Data in providing business and operational solutions to organizations.
• Companies can adopt a solution-centric approach in their day-to-day operations, due to insights available to them in real-time. This enables quick decisions that leads to resolutions to issues and events, irrespective of its complexity. • Businesses can now easily get precise information about user behaviour & feedbacks. Using these insights, they could make changes or add new features to their products and services have become easier. In the long- run, this pivotal aspect makes sure that the organization will face no hassles in withstanding the competition. • Factories/ plants are now able to identify problems in machinery/ equipment well before it occurs and by being proactive, they could easily avoid mishaps. • IoT and Big Data provides insights into the performance of each production process and production line in a factory. Also, this enables the automation and optimization leading to significant gains with reduction of cost and time of production. • The connectedness between IoT and Big Data is so positive that both perfectly complement each other. As there is a steady rise in the number of IoT devices, we are witnessing a simultaneous growth in technologies aimed at analysing Big Data. In the same way, with the surge in data analytics technologies, more and more organizations and people are integrating IoT into their daily activities.
IoT and Big Data- Challenges: We still find many companies that are not fully leveraging the potentials of IoT and Big Data. There are many challenges like cyber security and user privacy to be addressed. AI and ML techniques are still evolving, and many organizations faces acute talent shortage.
Significant progress is being made in the fields of IoT and Big Data. The existing challenges are being addressed by organizations across the world. How successful an enterprise in leveraging these technologies will determine their market performance and position. The good news is that the technology maturity is improving over time and many organizations are being able to leverage and make progress.
Why Ignoring IoT Technology Could Lead to A Competitive Disadvantage?
IoT applications across the globe have witnessed large-scale integration across all industry verticals. The demand for IoT Software and smart solutions is such, that the IoT market is likely to surpass $2.4 trillion by 2027 annually. By this time, the world is likely to have over 41 billion connected devices. No one would deny the strategic benefits enterprises get from IoT powered smart solutions and applications. There are many ways with which the business gets streamlined by using IoT technologies like reduced operational costs, better and real-time insights into customer behaviour, and optimized resource utilization, to name a few.
Why shouldn’t businesses overlook IoT technology? As a business owner, you might be thinking of the potential disadvantages in case you ignore IoT technologies and solutions. Let’s discuss some of the potential drawbacks of overlooking IoT technologies.
Higher operating costs While you might be wondering about the upfront cost you need to shell out to developing and deploying IoT powered solutions, however the mechanism will prove to be cost-effective in the long run. By having real-time information, optimization of workflows become easier, resulting in reduced operational costs.
Smart devices can provide values of their operating parameters as well as their status. Using this data, multiple proactive steps like scheduling of preventive maintenance etc. can be scheduled. This way, you won’t be encountering system downtimes, which would eventually reduce cost of equipment maintenance and production loss from unscheduled stoppages. Hence overlooking IoT technology can result in loosing opportunity for operational cost reduction.
Lower productivity and compromised safety Connected devices using smart technologies facilitate easy monitoring, management, and tracking of overall production line productivity. So, lack of leveraging IoT technologies would result is average productivity and you miss out the opportunity to improve.
IoT based solutions can significantly enhance the safety of your operating environment. With the regulatory compliances getting stringent, automated tracking and enhancement of safety of people and equipment is critical. Currently, many businesses and industrial units are deploying smart sensors backed by IoT. These sensors eventually leads to securing your staff from excessive physical stress and exposure to toxic environment.
Missing opportunity to consistently deliver superior customer experience. Leveraging of IoT Technologies enhances the data tracking in your organization. Tracking and analysing consumer data is very much needed to ensure you deliver superior experience to your customers all the time. You need to have automated mechanisms to understand changes to critical customer data such as customer’s sentiment etc. This will enable your marketing department to take steps needed.
IoT technologies can fetch data on your products like its usage, customer preferences etc., allowing you to tweak its features and adopt appropriate marketing strategies etc. On the other hand, IoT solutions can also help you address problems that your customers are encountering quicker and accurately. By working on the personal data of customers, you can deliver an improved personalised experience to them. Without smart technologies, you may miss out the chances of developing a loyal customer base.
What’s the solution to developing smart IoT devices? Now that you know why integrating IoT devices at your workplace matters, make sure to consult a reputed IoT software solution provider. Reputed IoT engineering companies can back you up with IoT and AI/ML based smart solutions to mitigate and manage various challenges in these digital era.
Gadgeon is an end-to-end IT outsourcing services company which is reputed for its deep expertise in Industrial IoT software development and Engineering. We connect devices, operations, and processes to create business value, and revolutionize enterprises with the power of data. As a professional IoT software development company, we successfully enabled the digital journey of customers with critical digital services ranging from embedded systems to testing & test automation.