5 Things You Need To Be Successful With The Internet Of Things

A $19 Trillion Opportunity

From transportation to oil rigs, retail and more, opportunity abounds in the market for solution providers able to take advantage of the Internet of Things, Andrew Sage, Cisco vice president of Americas distribution, said in a keynote address at the ONE Ingram Micro event in Las Vegas.

Cisco estimates the market opportunity at around $19 trillion. However, with that opportunity comes a slew of challenges around infrastructure, networking and more.

Take a look at the five pieces Sage said solution providers need to have in place for a successful Internet of Things offering.

1. Converged And Managed Network

While converged infrastructure isn't new, what makes it different in the environment today is that it is combining informational technology with operational technology. That complicates the Internet of Things landscape as it adds new connectivity requirements for millions more devices than ever before, Sage said. In order to be successful with the Internet of Things, solution providers need to recognize that shift and embrace the converged and managed network as part of their portfolio, he said.

2. Resilience At Scale

As more companies embrace the Internet of Things, Sage said they are bringing in pieces of their business that might have never touched technology or IT before. This includes parking lots, oil rigs and more. By adding those additional demands on critical areas, Sage said there is an added responsibility for the solution provider to keep everything running correctly.

"If the company is putting its most important stuff into this environment, it's got to be more resilient," Sage said.

3. Security And Privacy

With news headlines dominated by major breaches at big companies such as Target and Home Depot, Sage said the need is more apparent than ever for security and privacy with customer data. As more and more devices get added to the networks, Sage said there is an "exponential increase" in that need.

"We've got to get very smart about helping customers manage that threat and identify that threat," Sage said.

4. Distributed Intelligence

Instead of just focusing intelligence around the center of the network, Sage said that in order to maximize the benefits of the Internet of Things, solution providers should push forward the idea of "fog computing," which moves intelligence to the edges of the networks. He said that allows for the computing power to sit where the data will be collected to then be sent up to the cloud for analysis.

"We know the big movement is to move to the cloud and there's a ton of value and we're behind it. One hundred percent cloud is going to have a big impact, but in the Internet of Things you’ve got to have some intelligence down and in the network," Sage said.

5. Application Enablement

The shift towards application enablement is the most important piece of the equation, Sage said.

"The Internet of Things is all about outcomes for the customer. That means apps," he said.

That means getting more deeply connected into the network to enable it to become more application centric, Sage added.