Any talk of the Internet of Things (IoT) is likely to revolve around how it will revolutionize not just the business world but almost everything we do. We could be just a decade or two away from every object we use being connected to the internet in some capacity. The first major wave of IoT devices hit last year, and Gartner is predicting that nearly 6.5 billion things will connect to the IoT this year.
Change is coming whether were prepared for it or not. Its an exciting time to be alive, but as is usually the case, change also brings some trepidation. This is especially the case for businesses, which will need to undergo some big changes to properly use the IoT and the big data so closely tied to it.
Of course, one of the most obvious and predictable changes sure to come as the IoT becomes more widespread is the explosion in the amount of data generated. When everyday objects are outfitted with sensors designed to record information and send it via the cloud to company servers, it stands to reason that companies will quickly need to learn how to handle massive amounts of data.
Collecting data is certainly not new for successful businesses, but the more traditional models of doing so will likely no longer be a viable option when it comes to the Internet of Things. Data collection will require gathering information from not just a large variety of objects but from the same object multiple times every day — sometimes every second depending on whats needed.
At the same time, as the IoT becomes more mainstream, businesses will need to invest in new big data technology to get the most use out of it. Some of their strategies may include simply adapting some of their existing technologies to handle IoT data, but most of it will require adopting completely new solutions.
Which technologies businesses choose largely depends on the type of business they are. Some may go with platforms like Hive or Hadoop Spark for storing their big data. Others may look to NoSQL document databases which provide added flexibility suited best for IoT data. Whatever they decide, its clear that what theyre using right now will likely not be enough to get what they want from the IoT.
As businesses collect big data, theyll also need to place a more prominent emphasis on cleaning that data. As outlined above, the IoT will generate a vast amount of information that companies will focus on collecting. That doesnt mean that every single piece of data will be useful for what companies goals with big data are.
To truly utilize IoT data, organizations will need to separate the useful data from the redundant one, which can be quite a challenge. One recent survey showed that 96 percent of businesses are struggling to filter out the redundant data theyre collecting. To perform this action effectively, businesses will need to upgrade their analysis capabilities and make their IoT data collection process more efficient. Cleaning data is a process that will become more important to businesses than ever.
With all this focus on big data and the Internet of Things, businesses will also have to pay extra close attention to protecting all that data. Securing big data generated from the IoT presents difficulties in part because that data is collected from a variety of different devices, leading to many types of data and communication protocols.
Equally worth noting is the fact that many security experts simply dont have experience providing data security for the Internet of Things. Obviously, this creates a massive dilemma where tons of sensitive information is being produced without the security in place to protect it. The IoT will force businesses to adopt new security measures, with the preferred choice being a multi-layered security system that includes a segmented network designed to stop attacks before they happen and keep them contained if one manages to break through.
This is only a snapshot of the changes the Internet of Things is bringing to businesses and big data. While many of them will happen away from consumers eyes, the impact theyll have on our lives will be immense. The IoT may have a lot of hype surrounding it, but it may just live up to or even surpass it before long.
