{"id":1192,"date":"2019-02-15T10:32:00","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T10:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kusuaks7\/?p=797"},"modified":"2023-07-21T11:36:59","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T11:36:59","slug":"future-proofing-your-iot-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/iot\/future-proofing-your-iot-infrastructure\/","title":{"rendered":"Future-proofing your IoT Infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>Ready to learn Internet of Things? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/training\/courses\">Browse courses<\/a>\u00a0like\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/training\/tracks\/internet-of-things-training-certification\">Internet of Things (IoT) Training<\/a> developed by industry thought leaders and Experfy in Harvard Innovation Lab.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For all the value and disruptive potential that Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provide, corporate buyers face a dilemma. Today\u2019s IoT technologies are still immature point solutions that address emerging use cases with evolving technology standards. Buyers are concerned that what they buy today may become functionally or technologically obsolete tomorrow. Faced with this dilemma, many defer buying even if the IoT solutions they buy today offer tremendous value to their organizations. This post discusses a planning strategy called \u201cfuture-proofing\u201d that helps managers, buyers, and planners deal with obsolescence.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What causes IoT solution obsolescence?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&gt;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 720px; height: 405px;\" src=\"https:\/\/strategyofthings.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Slide4.jpg\" alt=\"experfy-blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>An IoT solution, whether you buy it now or in the future, can become functionally obsolete for several reasons, as described in Figure One. Unlike more established technologies, today\u2019s immature and fast evolving nature of IoT solutions, amplifies the risk of early obsolescence.<\/p>\n<p>For example, today there are multiple Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) connectivity options \u2013 SigFox, LoRa, RPMA (by Ingenu), Symphony Link (by Link Labs), NB-IoT and LTE-M. While each option has advantages and disadvantages, a subset of these will eventually \u201cwin\u201d out as technology standards, business models and use cases emerge.<\/p>\n<p>Similarly, there are 350+ IoT platforms in the marketplace today (source: \u201cCurrent state of the 360+ platforms\u201d, IoT Analytics, June 9, 2016). While many of these platforms target specific applications and industry segments, consolidation is inevitable as there are more vendors than the market can eventually support. The major IoT platform vendors (Amazon, Microsoft, Google, IBM, GE, et al), currently on a market share land grab, will drive consolidation when they begin to acquire select vertical platforms to gain rapid access to those markets.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is Future-Proofing?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&gt;<\/p>\n<p>According to Collins English Dictionary (10th edition), \u201cfuture-proof\u201d is defined as:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cprotected from consequences in the future, esp. pertaining to a technology that protect it from early obsolescence\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Because of the high cost of enterprise technologies, many buyers perceive obsolescence as bad. To them, future-proofing means keeping the technology as long as possible in order to minimize costs and maximize return on investment (ROI). Their companies have standardized their business processes, policies and even their technical support on the technologies that they have bought. When a solution goes End of Life (EOL) and transitions to a newer version, it means that managers will have to re-certify and retrain everyone on the \u201cnew\u201d solution all over again. In general, transitions happen over a period of months (and sometimes years) in large global companies. During this time, multiple generations of the solution will co-exist, with each requiring different processes and policies.<\/p>\n<p>In today\u2019s fast moving IoT market, planned and unplanned obsolescence will be the norm for the foreseeable future. The traditional concept of \u201cfuture-proofing\u201d doesn\u2019t apply, and can lead to significant, adverse business disruption.<\/p>\n<p>In the era of cloud based solutions and IoT, future-proofing is not about outguessing the future, and choosing the \u201cright\u201d solution so as to never have to \u201cbuy\u201d again. Nor is it overbuying technology now to avoid buying in the future. Finally, future-proofing is not about avoiding change. Future-proofing is a solution lifecycle management strategy. It is a continuous process to maximize solution flexibility and options, while making deliberate choices and managing risk.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What does a future-proof IoT infrastructure look like?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&gt;<\/p>\n<p>In planning the future-proofed IoT infrastructure, managers must first understand its key characteristics, and then define specific requirements for each of those characteristics. At a high level, these characteristics include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Usable\u2013 the infrastructure and solutions achieve all functional needs with no loss in performance, security, service level agreements (SLA) over the desired time period.<\/li>\n<li>Scalable \u2013 supports future needs, applications, devices<\/li>\n<li>Supportable \u2013 resolves technical, performance, reliability, SLA issues<\/li>\n<li>Changeable \u2013 addresses \u201clock-in\u201d and facilitates migration to updated solutions on your schedule based on your needs<\/li>\n<li>Economical \u2013 the total cost of ownership of the solution stays within forecasted ranges<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>A framework for future-proofing your IoT infrastructure<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&gt;<\/p>\n<p>Change is constant and cannot be avoided. The driving principle behind future-proofing is managing change, not avoiding or preventing it. This principle recognizes that every solution has a useful functional life, and that what is functionally useful today may be obsolete and discarded tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>A properly designed future-proof plan provides the organization with options and flexibility, rather than lock-in and risk. It prevents suboptimal decision-making by managing the infrastructure on a system level, rather than at the individual component level.<\/p>\n<p>Future-proofing your IoT infrastructure is a three step process (Figure Two). It is not a \u201conce and done\u201d exercise but must be done annually to remain relevant.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 720px; height: 405px;\" src=\"https:\/\/strategyofthings.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Slide5.jpg\" alt=\"experfy-blog\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Plan and Design<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The first step of the future-proofing process is to identify and place the various IoT infrastructure, systems and solutions into one of nine actionable categories. These categories are shown in Figure Three. The horizontal rows represent the \u201cchange\u201d category, while the vertical columns represent the timeframe decision timeframe.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"width: 720px; height: 405px;\" src=\"https:\/\/strategyofthings.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Slide6.jpg\" alt=\"experfy-blog\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The actual classification of the IoT infrastructure solutions into one of the categories is determined in conjunction with IT, operations and the business units. Key considerations for determining the \u201cfuture-proof category\u201d include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Usability\/functionality \u2013 functional utility, compliance with standards, performance against needs, SLAs, and performance<\/li>\n<li>Scalability \u2013 ability to meet current and future needs, anticipated change in standards<\/li>\n<li>Support \u2013 resources, expertise, reliability<\/li>\n<li>Ease of transition \u2013contractual agreements, technology interdependence\/dependence, specialized skills<\/li>\n<li>Economics \u2013 maintenance costs, licensing\/content\/subscription fees, utilities, new replacement costs, transition costs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Source and Build<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Once the proper categorization is completed, the second step is to procure the necessary solutions, whether they are hardware or software. This requires that a sourcing strategy be put into place over the desired time period. The terms sourcing and buying are sometimes used interchangeably, but they are not the same. Sourcing is about ensuring strategic access to supply while buying is more transactional. In executing the future-proofing plan, procurement managers must understand the supplier product lifecycle, and develop specific tactics.<\/p>\n<p>As an example, a large global company decides to standardize around a specific IoT edge device (and specific generation) and technology for the next five years. In order to maintain access to this supply during this time period, it employs a number of tactics, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Stocking of spare units to be deployed in the future<\/li>\n<li>Placing large \u201cLast time\u201d orders before that version of the solution is discontinued<\/li>\n<li>Sourcing refurbished versions of the technology<\/li>\n<li>Incorporating leasing as sourcing strategy<\/li>\n<li>Negotiating contractual arrangements with the vendor to continue the solution line<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Support and monitor<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The third step in the future-proofing strategy is to keep the IoT infrastructure and solutions operational over the desired time period. This is relatively easy when the solutions and technologies are being serviced and supported by the vendors. However, as vendors transition to newer technology and solution versions, buyers may find limited support and expertise. This problem is amplified the further you are from the original end-of-life date.<\/p>\n<p>To keep the infrastructure and solutions fully operational during this time, companies must employ various reactive and proactive tactics. Some of these include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Incorporating and installing vendor firmware updates to maximize functionality, apply bug fixes and extend useful life. Vendors may issue firmware updates on both End of Life and current generation solutions.<\/li>\n<li>Purchase warranty and extended warranty and maintenance service contracts to assure access to support<\/li>\n<li>Develop in-house maintenance and repair capability<\/li>\n<li>Negotiate special one-off engineering support services with the vendor or their designated contractors<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Originally published in <a href=\"https:\/\/strategyofthings.io\/future-proofing-iot\" rel=\"noopener\">Strategy of Things<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ready to learn Internet of Things? Browse courses\u00a0like\u00a0Internet of Things (IoT) Training developed by industry thought leaders and Experfy in Harvard Innovation Lab. For all the value and disruptive potential that Internet of Things (IoT) solutions provide, corporate buyers face a dilemma. Today\u2019s IoT technologies are still immature point solutions that address emerging use cases<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":4368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[195],"tags":[93],"ppma_author":[2556],"class_list":["post-1192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-iot","tag-internet-of-things"],"authors":[{"term_id":2556,"user_id":76,"is_guest":0,"slug":"benson-chan","display_name":"Benson Chan","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Chan","first_name":"Benson","job_title":"","description":"Benson Chan is a Senior Partner, and innovation catalyst at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/strategyofthings.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Strategy of Things<\/a>, helping companies transform the Internet of Things into the Innovation of Things through its innovation laboratory, research analyst, consulting and acceleration (execution) services. He has over 25 years of scaling innovative businesses and bringing innovations to market for Fortune 500 and start-up companies."}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/76"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1192"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29482,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1192\/revisions\/29482"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1192"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.experfy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=1192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}