The Internet of Things and the BOT model
Understanding the Internet of Things is becoming more and more important when you operate the Build Operate Transfer model of development. Developing software today goes far beyond than just producing code for computers and websites. The Internet of Things encompasses a myriad of intelligent devices such as medical wearables through to cars and home appliances, which all embed software.
The BOT definition expects you to have your systems developed and transferred to you fully working, just as you want them. The Internet of Things opens up many new and exciting possibilities. It is possible to make many everyday items “smart” and connect them into your network to transfer relevant information. This cover things such as refrigerators that know what is stored within them and can automatically order replacements to wearable devices that allow medical professionals to monitor you remotely.
This Internet of Things can provide many ways to enhance what you can provide through the Build Operate Transfer contract. You now have the option to build in many more sources of relevant data and up to date information into your processes as well as developing time saving tools and apps for them. This gives you a huge opportunity to improve the efficiency of all of your processes in the workplace.
How IoT Can Make Business More Productive and Efficient
Whether working within a manufacturing company or looking at IoT and retail there are many ways that you can make things significantly more efficient and productive. By expanding how you look at all of the items within your process and full supply chain there are many opportunities to bring in time saving ideas as well as making things work much smoother.
Smart AI devices such as Siri and Alexa are not just gimmicks that you can use within your home. They can be linked into your smart office devices to make things even easier and automate tasks. You will be able to get tasks done through your virtual AI assistants in the office just through your voice and without having to go anywhere near your keyboard.
The Internet of Things also allows you to gather large amounts of data about how you are using your buildings and facilities. This data about what areas are being utilized the most and when, allows you to fine tune all of your operations. It also enables you to make, often significant, savings in energy use.
The IoT can help you to fully track your internal processes and keep track on how equipment is functioning. This can help you to identify when things are starting to break down within your equipment, often enabling you to fix things before you even have any real problems. It also allows you to keep track of how the process is flowing and to identify any delays and other issues. Real time information enables you to be able to fix and improve things now, rather than having to wait to be notified at the end of the day what went wrong. At Monday.com you can find a blank calendar template to track every single task accordingly.
You can fully understand your whole supply chain. Sensors can provide you with information about everything from stock levels of components and finished goods in different locations through to where delivery vehicles may be. You can have a full and up to date view of everything within your supply chain allowing you to make decisions based fully on real data.
How to Prepare for an IoT Future
If you are to complete your Build Operate Transfer project to the satisfaction of your clients then you really do need to think to the future. This is a fast moving area with many innovations being made almost every day. You need to be forward thinking and able to look beyond the boundaries that you may usually apply to your projects if you are to provide a system that is truly going to add value.
The following are a number of areas that you really need to consider when looking to the future of the Internet of Things:
- Storage of data: with many more devices adding to the amount of information being gathered there is a real need to consider how that data is going to be stored and where. You need to think hard about whether you are going to be storing this data locally, using edge technology, or storing it within the cloud with its advantages for scalability. All have their own pros and cons and you will need to choose the correct methods for your specific processes to enable speedy access and analysis of the data.
- Data analysis experts: knowing what to do with all of the data that you have collected is not a simple task. Often you will need to invest in an expert in data analysis to help you to understand what information you will be able to draw from the raw data that you are collecting.
- Security: the more devices and other links you have to your network the more opportunities you will create for hackers and other malicious persons. The development of smart devices is moving very fast and many have failed to see the risks involved. They have already found issues with things such as cardiac devices that could be hacked easily by others putting patients at severe risk. Whether protecting data or simply maintaining proper function of the process a lot of thought and care needs to go into your cybersecurity.
Make Full use of the Internet of Things
Achieving your BOT meaning and delivering what the client truly needs today, requires an in-depth understanding of the Internet of Things. The amount of data that you can collect and use can now come from every part of your process with a huge amount of additional functionality.
By investing in your understanding and use of the IoT you can ensure that processes that you develop are able to make full use of the functionality of the devices that can be linked to it. This will help you to make your processes function smoothly and more efficiently while enabling you to make the correct business decisions or you can use the services of IoT consultants.
