5 Reasons why IOT rocks!

Nikolai Tesla predicted in 1926 that,  'When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole...and the instruments through which we shall be able to do this will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket' 

It has come true almost half a century later. After that though, the advent of connected devices has exponentially increased, these devices emit data every microsecond. It has given rise to the IOT phenomenon. But why is IOT so important? 

Most of the Big data analytics right now is performed on human generated data, and it has resulted in unparalled ROIs, but what yet to be explored is the potential in machine data. The amount of data created by machines is so huge and continuous, that human generated data pales in comparison

The number of connected devices is increasing by the second. An average American household has 6 devices connected to the internet. Stored in these devices is the capability to predict events way before they happen. 

These devices will start creating so much data that current databases will find it hard to fathom, let alone digest. New pathways have to be discovered, new methods to be invented. That's going to be an amazing challenge to crack.

In every sphere, IOT can unlock opportunities like never before. It will encompass every phase of our life, right from our birth to death, and probably after. Healthcare, Lifestyle, Work, Energy, Entertainment, you name it, and IOT touches it. 

This is exactly why now is the right time to get on the IOT bandwagon. At Flutura, we have started taking strides towards each of these and more spheres concentrating on hardcore engineering areas like Utilities, Oil and Gas, Manufacturing etc to bring down their revenue leakages and improve operational efficiencies. 

Big Data Crystal Ball – Looking Forward

A guest post by Clif Triplett, ex-CIO, Baker-Hughes and member of Flutura advisory board.

“Big Data”; another big idea like “Cloud”; is it something that we should be embracing right now or be lost forever?   Is this another vague term that can be applied to countless projects?  Everyone is doing it our vendors will tell us.  You may have the question, “Am I actually running a “Big Data” project or do I just have to deal with a lot of data?”  What is “Big”?   

As I look forward, I think Big Data will begin to take different distinct forms as this other concept of “Cloud” has matured over recent years.  Business cases will become more obvious and solutions better defined.   The enablers to address  “Big Data” opportunities will also become more obvious as we see the dynamics of tomorrow dramatically evolve compared to just a few years ago. 

The most influential contributors emerging on the horizon that will change the game are the following:

•         Explosion of sensors and digital inputs
•       Very large memory machines (Terabytes of memory and more)
•       Easy access to thousands of processors from Cloud providers like Azure and Amazon
•       HPC environments and Cloud operating systems that can organize computing across many independent machines
•       The continued explosion of readily available data on the internet (e.g. weather, stock market, government records, news, social media)
•       Web crawlers that can locate and index information on the web      Predictive Analytic engines
•       Open Source software (e.g. Predictive Analytic engines, search engines, cloud operating systems, and I anticipate the emergence of applications like those that might be able to judge and predict sentiment about topics)
•       Proven use cases by industry
• .     Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (CoTS) package solutions connecting multiple data sources and answering specific business challenges e.g. sales forecasts, predictive maintenance, process control, inventory management.

This convergence of technology and information now make it possible to define sub-classes of Big Data projects, such as Demand Forecasting, Failure or Defect Management, Market Sentiment, Situational Alternative Simulation, and many others I am sure.

Big Data product segments will also be clearer and strong leaders will emerge.  One of the product segments where we will see specialization will be hardware platforms.  We will see specialized machines such as HANA platforms and Solid State storage optimized for very large data sets.   We will also see Big Data Cloud platforms leveraging the momentum of two major technology trends; Cloud and Big Data.   There will be many analytic platforms; both open source and proprietary.  We will see boutique solutions to specific problems like product launch predictive sales analytics and advanced maintenance management programs. 

The other big player to emerge will be taxonomy platforms that assist in connecting disparate data sources and applying context to support integration.   Today most major applications provide APIs to their applications.  I foresee them in the future also providing taxonomy context to allow more dynamic integration of systems.

So, what are some of the issues that this future of Big Data will bring upon us in the near term?  Organizational change management will be top of the list.   This emerging trend surrounding Big Data will cause many new roles, new skill demands, new systems, and new approaches to business. In short; change.

First of all, we will face the issue of where is our Master Data and who is the owner?  This is a problem that has been with us for some time, but now it will emerge as a very strategic decision and not just an IT annoyance.  Second will be the issue of data quality and how do we clean up all this conflicting or missing data we have uncovered.  Our list will continue to grow and here are a few more to consider:

•       Development of Business Cases to clean up data
•       Engaging the business in data governance
•       New Technologies for solving this new class of Big Data business solutions
•       New skills required and a shortage of top talent
•       Technology and Business roadmaps – what does it look like?
•       Many new vendors emerging and the old favorites trying new things they have never done before – how do we know who knows what they are doing?
•       Project estimating and run away projects

We have seen many of these challenges before and many of us will see them again.  It will be exciting times and we better start preparing now.  The planets are aligning and Big Data is arriving.  It still may be a bit still too far away for some to see it clearly, but keep your eyes open for it will be upon you soon.