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.

The Entrepreneur’s Guide To Pre-Fab Metal Buildings

Discussing business at a time when many commercial operations have had it rougher than ever before seems a little odd. Nonetheless, entrepreneurship has actually seen pretty significant increases, with many new business owners going the way of prefab buildings. This is in direct contrast to many who opted to go the traditional brick-and-mortar storefronts with which were most familiar. The biggest difference is that with prefab buildings, the ability to shift & pivot is easier in the long run.
It’s no secret that the last eighteen months have dealt a massive blow to businesses all over the world. Whether it’s clothing sales, toys, cosmetics, or the restaurant industry, the global health crisis ground the entire world to a halt. Stay-at-home orders kept folks out of the public arenas where commerce operated. And with fears about employment status & possible budget cuts, people stopped spending money in every way that wasn’t deemed absolutely necessary.

Needless to say, many businesses suffered & continue to suffer. Many businesses were not able to make it, closing their doors permanently. Others struggled mightily to shift their operation so as to meet a new way of doing business, even if it was at a loss.

Over time, though, things started to at least improve a bit. Businesses realized that their ‘Plan B’ was that they had no actual emergency plan. Moreover, they started taking into account what they actually needed to run their business including their storefront. This is where the beauty of prefabricated buildings came into their own. For a small investment, business owners now had a whole lot more control over their physical surroundings. They could set-up shop in new & unique ways that catered more to their audience, their merchandise, and their way of life. What’s more, prefab buildings allowed them to be more nimble & ready to make quick decisions to save their business. That’s peace of mind you can’t put a price on.

Speaking purely in terms of entrepreneurship outside of once-in-a-century events, the notion of prefab metal buildings actually make a ton of sense. People starting a business are usually trying their best to get everything right as best they can, so investing money in the right kind of physical space may make or break their success from the start. If you aim to start a business sometime soon or are at the end of a first lease & are thinking about a new location, here is some food for thought:

Customization – Prefabrication is done with customization from the customer. The order process is very streamlined & is quite easy to do. You interact with a team member on the manufacturer’s side, let them know what you’d like to get in place, and get a rendered drawing. The best companies offer a 3-D rendering, giving you a great look at what your prospective space could look like & letting you know where tweaks would be most beneficial.

Floor Plan Flexibility – You know your industry & product well enough that you ca design the flow of your desired space to your liking. Unfortunately, leasing a commercial space may not give you that flow. A prefab building, however, gives you the freedom to dictate the entire flow with little extras as you see fit. What’s more, if you work with an experienced manufacturer, they can provide invaluable advice on design choices based on previous projects they’ve done that could benefit you.

Versatility – You may not realize it, but if you take a drive around your city/town, you may be surprised to learn that a significant number of services utilize prefab metal buildings. Churches, auto repair shops, vet clinics, convenience stores, and medical offices all have taken to using the versatile layouts allowed by prefab structures.

Construction Time – How many times have you driven around & seen ‘coming soon’ signs for a new business only to wonder when exactly ‘soon’ was? It’s one thing to generate interest, but at some point, folks stop paying attention. As a new business owner with a solid idea/product/service, you want to strike while the iron is hot. This means getting your storefront up & running ASAP. Prefab buildings are made to be erected quickly & efficiently, getting you in front of customers faster.

Environmental Impact – In this day & age, we’re all responsible for doing all we can to reduce our impact on the world around us. This goes for changing construction methods, which is why prefab metal buildings are a tremendous option for the environmentally-conscious business owner. Just about 100% of the structure is recyclable, with many manufacturers providing options to use recycled materials in the first place.

Continue living poor with these7 Financial Habits

Do you find yourself facing financial challenges? You might be keeping yourself poor with habits you didn’t even realize were contributing to your situation. Rid yourself of these habits that are keeping you poor. Set up a plan to effectively enhance your secured financial future.
Decide today to eliminate these financial habits from your life:

1. Failure to create an adequate emergency fund. There’s no better prevention for financial disaster than an emergency fund that covers at least 3 months of living expenses. A short period of unemployment or a single, unexpected, major bill can be financially devastating. It will happen. Avoid believing it’s a matter of “if it ever happens.”

* Set aside whatever dollar amount you can manage and begin building an emergency fund. Even a few dollars each week is a start.

2. Habitually paying bills late. Most consumers believe that credit card companies make most of their money from the high interest rates they charge. This isn’t true. It’s actually the late fees they collect. Nearly every bill you pay each month becomes more expensive if you’re late, even by a single day.

* Develop the habit of sitting down once a week and paying the bills that are coming due. Pay them at least 7 days in advance.

3. Inappropriate use of credit cards. Using credit cards to purchase unnecessary items you can’t afford is the worst use. Putting charges on your cards up to their limits and then only paying the minimum due will put you in a precarious position, lower your credit score, and keep you in debt for a long time.

* Resolve to limit credit card use to emergencies or to accumulate rewards if you’re paying off your balance in-full each month.

4. Failing to save money from each paycheck. If you’re struggling to make ends meet, saving money often seems impossible. But this is the time it’s most critical. Start by saving 1% of your take-home pay and build from there. If you never save any money, how will your situation change?

5. Making impulse purchases. How many times have you made a big purchase and then run out of money at the end of the month? Impulse purchases are rarely satisfying after the initial glow has worn off. In fact, you’re probably resentful of the purchase after the financial pain comes home to roost.

* Take a few days to think about the purchase before making a final decision. You’ll often find the urge has subsided.

6. Buying items you don’t need. After shelter, clothing, food, and medical care, most spending is optional to varying degrees. You probably don’t want to feel like you’re living in a cave and eating sticks, but you certainly spend money each month that could either be saved or spent more wisely.

7. Failing to contribute to your retirement. After forty years of toiling to make ends meet, wouldn’t it be nice to retire comfortably? Many seniors find themselves in challenging financial circumstances because they failed to contribute adequately to their retirement. It’s never too late to start.

Eliminating negative habits is the most effective way to start your journey to financial abundance. Choose one habit and make an effort each day to remove it from your life. The most powerful action you can take with regards to your finances is to eliminate your three most debilitating financial habits. Simply Follow the Methods introduced in the Training System to Multiply Your Money!