INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Cloud
Cloud to help transform IoT
from individual components to
integrated platform
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G
artner’s technology predictions state
that 2018 will be the year in which
intelligent things proliferate, driving
a shift from stand-alone things to a swarm
of collaborative intelligent things, with
the focus moving away from the sensors
themselves and toward integrated platforms
that will turn these huge volumes of data
into actionable intelligence for data-rich
business models.
As these swarms of chattering smart devices
share increasing volumes of distributed data
among themselves and back to the enterprise,
Craig Nel, Cloud Platform Leader, Mobile,
BOTS and A1 at Oracle Middle East, Africa
and Turkey, says the challenges around these
areas – including integration and analytics –
will become exponentially more complex.
Businesses looking to harness the power
of IoT should first define the business
outcome that they want to achieve with the
technology – is it aimed at reducing cost,
or increasing productivity or driving new
revenue, or does it form part of a broader
digital transformation initiative – which then
provides them with measurable objectives?
Companies need to think beyond just
devices and connectivity and interrogate
how they can use the data coming from all
those devices to automate certain workflows
and drive new business value. Without this
critical thinking up front, such initiatives are
bound for failure.
Broader integration, powerful analytics
A key enabler here is the integration of
technologies from across business processes
so that many areas – such as enterprise
resource planning, sales, supply chain and
customer service systems – can seamlessly
interact in real time.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Through platform as a service (PaaS) and
software as a service (SaaS) offerings,
companies have a greater ability to integrate
cloud and on-premise applications, connect
applications through integrated data
streams and add functionality and services
to applications. This provides greater visibility
and enables KPIs that involve multiple areas,
including improving customer satisfaction.
Cloud-mature companies have greater
capacity for data analytics and to
experiment with different data models,
in addition to improved automation and
visualisation, based on machine learning.
It also helps improve capability with non-
relational data, with research suggesting
that the more mature an organisations cloud
implementation, the greater the potential to
gain insight from its data. A growing trend
is for organisations to create digital twins
of their assets, with IoT – on machinery,
for example – providing real-time data, to
proactively repair and plan for equipment
service, plan manufacturing processes,
operate factories, predict equipment failure,
increase operational efficiency and perform
enhanced product development.
AI, autonomous operations to
improve security
From the endpoint devices to the network
to applications, the potential for security
vulnerabilities are concerning and will continue
even as systems are updated and patched.
According to Gartner, traditional security
techniques using ownership and control rather
than trust will not work in the digital world.
Traditional IT involves putting together
different architectures from multiple vendors
and creating environments that are both
complex and prone to error. Modern IT, on
the other hand, usually involves cloud built
Craig Nel, Cloud Platform Leader, Mobile,
BOTS and A1 at Oracle Middle East, Africa
and Turkey
on a single architecture by a single vendor
and backed by robust process controls.
Today’s enterprise databases include
features to provide in-depth defence for
the organisation’s most valuable and
sensitive data, but only if these capabilities
are used. There is now a growing interest
in autonomous databases that self-patch,
reducing the chance of human error and
further cutting down on risk.
Going further, autonomous operations will
be able to use artificial intelligence and
machine learning to proactively monitor
for anomalies, anticipate outcomes, take
remedial action and be aware of risks in real-
time. It is predicted that by 2025, 80% of
cloud operations risk will vanish entirely and
more intelligent automation will permeate
the cloud platform.
Forrester predicts that businesses that
use AI, big data and IoT to uncover new
business insights ‘will steal US$1.2 trillion
per annum from their less informed peers
by 2020’. Today’s companies no longer
compete just with local businesses, but with
global or smaller, more niche players in their
industries, or even from outside their business.
No company can afford to ignore the full
potential of IoT when combined with cloud. n
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