VOICES
But the danger of de-prioritizing Edge and IoT is that the business will
implement the technology without IT’s involvement. These shadow projects
create serious bumps down the road, including not being able to scale device
management, manage large volumes and diverse types of data, or ensure security
and compliance.
Despite these challenges, the IoT and Edge train has left the station, as
the number of “things” continues to grow exponentially. Capturing IoT’s full
potential to enable data-driven decision making will require leaders to embrace
innovations in technologies, change business models, and invest in new capabilities
and talent. To thoughtfully deploy and run your Edge and IoT environment,
consider the following best practices:
• Join forces. Build relationships across OT, IT, and business decision
makers to gain enterprise-wide expertise.
• Simplify device management. Free up IT and operational
personnel by automating device detection, configuration, and management.
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• Be smart about data. Lower storage costs, bandwidth requirements,
and security risk with comprehensive data orchestration tools.
• Speak a common language. Build your solution on infrastructure
that connects and integrates heterogenous communication
protocols.
• Integrate security. Minimize data and network exposure by delivering
timely software updates to your Edge devices and applications.
• Prepare to grow. Easily add more and new types of “things” with
a flexible, scalable architecture, and vendor-neutral management tools.
THE TIME HAS COME
Even at this early stage, IoT has already made a real impact, proving that the
digitization of machines, vehicles, and other elements of the physical world is
a truly powerful idea. I believe IoT will accelerate our ability to generate even
more groundbreaking ideas and propel human progress. Its time has come. ■