We will now learn how IoT platforms and services help to improve network services, operations, and business goals -- for carriers and end users alike.
Listen to the podcast. Find it on iTunes. Get the mobile app. Read a full transcript or download a copy.
Here to help us explore what
is needed to build an efficient IoT support business is Andres Sanchez, CEO of Identidad IoT in Miami. The discussion is moderated by Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions.
Here are some excerpts:
We saw a very good
opportunity to start something new and to take the experience we have with the
technology that we have in telecoms, and get new people, get new developers,
and start building solutions, and that's what we are doing right now.
Gardner: How
has your business changed in the telecoms support industry and why is IoT such
a big opportunity for you?
Sanchez: With
the new OTT (Over the Top content) technology, and the way that it came into
the picture and took part of the whole communications chain of business, the
business is basically getting very tough in telecoms. When we begin evaluating
what IoT can do and seeing the possibilities, this is a new wave. We understand
that it's not about connectivity, it's not about the 10 percent of the value
chain -- it's more about the solutions.
 |
| Sanchez |
Gardner: So
as the voice telecoms business trails off, there is a new opportunity at the
edge for data and networks to extend for a variety of use cases. What are some
the use cases that you are seeing now in IoT that is a growth opportunity for
your business?
Sanchez: IoT is everywhere. The beauty of IoT is that you can
find solutions everywhere you look. What we have found is that when people
think about IoT, they think about connected home, they think about connected
car, or the smart parking where it's just a green or red light when the parking
is occupied or not. But IoT is more than that.
There are two ways to
generate revenue in IoT. One is by having new products. The second is
understanding what it is on the operational level that we can do better. And
it’s in this way that we are putting in sensors, measuring things, and
analyzing things. You can basically reduce your operational cost, or be more
effective in the way that you are doing business. It's not only getting the information,
it's using that information to automate processes that it will make your
company better.
Gardner: As
organizations recognize that there are new technologies coming in that are
enabling this smart edge, smart network, what is it that’s preventing them from
being able to take advantage of this?
Manage your solutions
with the HPE
Sanchez: Companies think that they just have to connect the
sensors, that they only have to digitize their information. They haven’t
realized that they really have to go through a digital transformation. It's not
about connecting the sensors that are already there; it's building a solution
using that information. They have to reorganize and to reinvent their
organizations.
For example, it's not about
taking a sensor, putting the sensor in the machine and just start taking
information and watching it on a screen. It’s taking the information and being
able to see and check special patterns, to predict when a machine is going to
break, when a machine at certain temperatures starts to work better or worse.
It's being able to be more productive without having to do more work. It’s just
letting the machines do the work by themselves.
Gardner: A
big part of that is bringing more of an IT mentality to the edge, creating a
standard network and standard platforms that can take advantage of the underlying
technologies that are now off-the-shelf.
Sanchez: Definitely.
The approach that Identidad IoT takes is we are not building solutions based on
what we think is good for the customer. What we are doing is building proof of
concepts (PoCs) and tailored solutions for companies that need digital
transformation.
I don’t think there are two
companies doing the same thing that have the same problems. One manufacturer may
have one problem, and another manufacturer using the same technology has another
completely different problem. So the approach we are taking is that we generate
a PoC, check exactly what the problems are, and then develop that application
and solution.
This
is not just a change of process. This is not purely putting in new
software. This is trying to solve a problem when you may not even know
the problem is there. It's really digital transformation.
But it's important to
understand that IoT is not an IT thing. When we go to a customer, we don’t just go to an IT person, we go to the CEO,
because this is a change of mentality. This is not just a change of process.
This is not purely putting in new software. This is trying to solve a problem when
you may not even know the problem is there. It's really digital transformation.
Gardner: Where
is this being successful? Where are you finding that people really understand
it and are willing to take the leap, change their culture, rethink things to
gain advantages?
One solution at a time
Sanchez: Unfortunately, people are afraid of what is coming,
because people don't understand what IoT is, and everybody thinks it's really
complicated. It does need expertise. It does need to have security -- that is a
very big topic right now. But it's not impossible.
When we approach a company
and that CEO, CIO or CTO understands that the benefits of IoT will be shown
once you have that solution built -- and that probably the initial solution is
not going to be the final solution, but it's going to be based on iterations --
that’s when it starts working.
If people think it’s just an
out-of-the-box solution, it's not going to work. That's the challenge we are
having right now. The opportunity is when the head of the company understands
that they need to go through a digital transformation.
Manage your solutions
with the HPE
Gardner: When you work with a partner like Hewlett PackardEnterprise (HPE), they have made big investments and developments in edge computing, such as Universal IoT Platform and Edgeline Systems. How does that help you as a solutions provider make that difficult
transition for your customers easier, and encourage them to understand that
it's not impossible, that there are a lot of solutions already designed for
their needs?
Sanchez: Our
relationship with HPE has been a huge success for Identidad IoT. When we started
looking at platforms, when we started this company, we couldn't find the right platform
to fulfill our needs. We were looking for a platform that we could build
solutions on and then extrapolate that data with other data, and build other
solutions over those solutions.
When we approached HPE, we
saw that they do have a unique platform that allows us to generate whatever applications, for whatever verticals,
for whatever organizations – whether a city or company. Even if you wanted to
create a product just for end-users, they have the ability to do it.
Also, it's a platform that
is so robust that you know it’s going to work, it’s reliable, and it’s very
secure. You can build security from the device right on up to the platform and
the applications. Other platforms, they don't have that.
We think that IoT is about relationships and partnerships -- it's about an ecosystem.
Our business model correlates a lot with the HPE business model. We think that IoT is about relationships and partnerships
-- it’s about an ecosystem. The approach that HPE has to IoT and to ecosystem
is exactly the same approach that we have. They are building this big ecosystem
of partners. They are helping each other to build relationships and in that way,
they build a better and more robust platform.
Gardner: For
companies and network providers looking to take advantage of IoT, what would
you suggest that they do in preparation? Is there a typical on-ramp to an IoT project?
A leap of faith
Sanchez: There's no time to be prepared right now. I think
they have to take a leap of faith and start building the IoT applications. The
pace of the technology transformation is incredible.
When you see the technology
right now, today -- probably in four months it's going to be obsolete. You are
going to have even better technology, a better sensor. So if you wait --most
likely the competition is not going to wait and they will have a very big
advantage.
Our approach at Identidad
IoT is about platform-as-a-service (PaaS). We are helping companies take that
leap without having to create very big financial struggles. And the companies
will know that by our using the HPE platform,
they are using the state-of-the-art platform. They are not using just a mom-and
pop-platform built in a garage. It's a robust PaaS -- so why not to take that
leap of faith and start building it? Now is the time.
Gardner:
Once you pick up that success, perhaps via a PoC, that gives you ammunition to
show economic and productivity benefits that then would lead to even more
investment. It seems like there is a virtuous adoption cycle potential here.
Sanchez: Definitely!
Once we start a new solution, usually the people who are seeing that solution,
they start seeing things that they are not used to seeing. They can pinpoint
problems that they have been having for years – but they didn't understand why.
For example, there's one
manufacturer of T-shirts in Colombia. They were having issues with one specific
machine. That machine used to break after two or three weeks. There was just
this small piece that was broken. When we installed the sensor and we started
gathering their information, after two or three breaks, we understood that it
was not the amount of work -- it was the temperature at which the machine was
working.
So what they did is once the
temperature reached a certain point, we automatically started some fans to
normalize the temperature, and then they haven't had any broken pieces for months.
It was a simple solution, but it took a lot of study and gathering of
information to be able to understand that break point -- and that's the beauty of IoT.
Gardner: It's
data-driven, it's empirical, it’s understood, but you can't know what you don't
know until you start measuring things, right?
Listen to things
Sanchez: Exactly! I always say that the “things” are trying
to say something, and we are not listening. IoT enables the people, the companies,
and the organization to start listening to the things, and not only to start
listening, but to make the things to work for us. We need the applications to
be able to trigger something to fix the problem without any human intervention
-- and that's also the beauty of IoT.
Gardner: And
that IoT philosophy even extends to healthcare, manufacturing, transportation,
any place where you have complexity, it is pertinent.
Manage your solutions
with the HPE
Sanchez: Yes, the solution for IoT is everywhere. You can think about healthcare or tracking people
or tracking guns or building solutions for cities in which the city can
understand what is triggering certain pollution levels that they can fix. Or it
can be in manufacturing, or even a small thing like finding your cellphone.
It’s everything that you can
measure. Everything that you can put a sensor on, you can measure -- that's IoT.
The idea is that IoT will help people live better lives without having to take
care of the “thing;” things will have to take care of themselves.
Gardner: You
seem quite confident that this is a growth industry. You are betting a significant
amount of your future growth on it. How do you see it increasing over the next
couple of years? Is this a modest change or do you really see some potential
for a much larger market?
Once people understand the capability of IoT, there's going to be an explosion of solutions.
Sanchez: That's a really good question. I do see that IoT is the next wave of technology. There are several studies that say
that by 2020 there are going to be 50 billion devices connected. I am not that
futuristic, but I do see that IoT will start working now and probably within
the next two or three years we are going to start seeing an incremental growth
of the solutions. Once people understand the capability of IoT, there's going
to be an explosion of solutions. And I think the moment to start doing it is
now. I think that next year it’s going to be too late.
Listen to the podcast. Find it on iTunes. Get the mobile app. Read a full transcript or download a copy. Sponsor: Hewlett Packard Enterprise.
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