The “Internet of Things” – or the “Internet of Everything” as Cisco’s John Chambers calls it – is the big buzz term in tech these days. But IoT is getting even bigger as companies move to embrace it for enterprise applications, not just consumer devices. So says Red Hat’s Chris Gray, the company’s director of Embedded and Intelligent Systems.
“The Internet of Things comes to the enterprise,” Gray writes in a Red Hat blog.
Sets your sights higher for IoT use, he stresses.
“If you’ve been reading about the Internet of Things (IoT) market, you’re probably wondering why all the buzz is about consumer products – wearables for health improvement, smart home technologies for better control over your life, smart vehicles for safer driving. There’s no question that the consumer products being hyped right now are provoking thoughtful discussions in boardrooms and lots of investments by venture firms. The reason for this is that the world has always been fascinated by ways to use technology to improve our lives. The interest in futuristic technology gives us hope that we can find solutions to complex problems and daily challenges.
“Being able to adjust your thermostat from your smartphone, however, does not fully embody the opportunity that the IoT represents,” he points out.
Of course, Red Hat is making huge investments in IoT-related technology, such as the “cloud” and petabyte-capable server solutions.
Gray sees a future of IoT network solutions.
“The truth is that the full range of possibilities created by the IoT continues to grow and is now being realized by enterprises across the world,” he explains.
“The impact of these technologies are fundamentally revolutionizing the way enterprises do business and are allowing for advancements in productivity which compare with the advent of computing itself. Just imagine the transformation taking place on railways across the country. Where once a conductor manually applied the brakes when he saw a locomotive that was a little too close, rail companies are now operating with centralized systems that know the exact locations and actions of every locomotive in their network. Train speed is automatically adjusted to not only avoid collisions, but to optimize fuel consumption and improve overall efficiency, with the potential to drive an estimated $200m in profit for each 1 mph increase in average fleet speed.
“So while smart phones, smart TVs, smart appliances and smart cars may continue to capture the imagination of consumers, you can see there is much to be gained with enterprise implementations. However, there is a fundamental difference when deploying IoT initiatives in enterprises.”
For more specifics, read Gray’s entire blog online.
