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For years we have accepted that every company becomes a data company. It’s not just Google, Amazon and Apple that get data out of their ears. Now that sensors are embedded in virtually every device and product — from cars and appliances to thermostats — even the most humble of companies have access to data that is growing exponentially. But creating data and using it effectively are two very different things.
We all know what happens when tech-native companies start to use data to their advantage (think personalized ads, product recommendations, or streamlined online checkout experiences), but legacy industries like manufacturing, automotive and utilities are just starting to activate their data. . The effects of these strategies are still in their infancy. Yet all signs point to the impact of this data awakening being more meaningful than the data-driven changes Big Tech has enabled.
Transforming old-fashioned industries
Take the car industry, for example. Every day, an autonomous car — with hundreds of sensors — can collect more than 25 gigabytes of data. On a large scale, this collects exabytes of data for the companies that produce them. These sensors have turned the proverbial garden hose into a fire hydrant and flooded organizations with data. If this amount of data is moved to the cloud and deployed strategically, the impact can be huge.
For example, if a car manufacturer starts collecting and analyzing data from sensors in cars, it can share that data with insurers to fundamentally change the way insurance policies are created. The safer the driver, the lower the monthly amount. In addition, they could even partner with city and state governments to share insights about driving behaviour, inform new roads and detect bad conditions – changing the look of today’s cities.
Smart meter manufacturers are taking similar steps to unleash the full potential of their data. Smart meters, which monitor energy consumption, continuously collect data vital to meeting the energy needs of communities. This data is crucial for utilities: not only for informing reliability and maintenance measures, but also for pricing structures, but also for fueling green initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions. By partnering with utilities, smart meter manufacturers can be a vital accelerator of a more sustainable future.
How do we manage to strategically deploy IoT data?
To create a world where legacy companies massively use IoT data strategically, the cloud needs to become more accessible. While the benefits of the cloud are widely recognised, the challenges of getting data there at scale, quickly and securely have left it vastly underutilized.
Massive, unstructured IoT data workloads — typically stored at the edge or on-premises — require infrastructure that not only handles the influx of big data, but also directs the traffic to ensure data gets where it needs to be without interruption or downtime. This is no small feat when it comes to data sets in the petabyte and exabyte ranges, but here’s the essential challenge: prioritizing the real-time activation of data at scale. By building a foundation that optimizes the capture, migration and use of IoT data, these companies can unlock new business models and revenue streams that fundamentally change their effects on the world around us.
Rising data tide lifts all boats
As legacy companies begin to embrace their IoT data, cloud service providers need to take notice. Cloud adoption, long considered a priority for companies seeking to better understand their consumers, will become increasingly important in the transformation of traditional businesses. The cloud and the services delivered around it will serve as a highway for manufacturers or utilities to move, activate, and monetize exabytes of data that are essential to businesses across industries. As these companies gradually transition from hardware manufacturers to data aggregators, the business models that shape our world will begin to evolve.
David Richards is the CEO and Chairman of WANdisco.
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This post How IoT data is changing legacy industries – and the world around us
was original published at “https://venturebeat.com/2022/03/27/how-iot-data-is-changing-legacy-industries-and-the-world-around-us/”