Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column where C-level executives and advisory firms from across the mobile industry share unique insights and experiences.
It goes by many names. “The industrial Internet.” “The Internet of things.” “Machine-to-machine,” or M2M for our purposes. And as amusing as the name game may be, the innovative and transformative power of M2M is very real and nothing short of staggering.
Between smartphones, tablet computers, nano-machines that could be ingested by an individual to monitor real-time health conditions and more, we could very well see one trillion connected devices worldwide by the end of this decade. The possibilities of what we could do with that many devices are mind-boggling. Imagine a pacemaker or blood pressure monitor that automatically calls for an ambulance in the event of a medical emergency. Think about it – the potential for M2M to save lives by warning patients and their physicians before such emergencies even occur could soon be realized.
Cisco recently forecast that traffic from M2M will increase 22-fold by 2016. With this comes potential to revolutionize existing industries and give birth to brand new ones. But, when Apple unveiled the first iPhone in 2007, AT&T Mobility was not prepared for the subsequent tsunami of mobile traffic – and I think we all know what happened next. So, before we get caught up in the fun stuff that M2M has to offer, there are a few chores we have to take care of first.
Imagine what it will be like when we have one trillion devices streaming all manner of data around the globe, and the challenges telecoms providers will soon face in managing that gargantuan amount of traffic. This plethora of new devices won’t just magically run on new networks created out of thin air. They will be running alongside the mobile traffic already pushing existing networks to their limits today. Electronic devices are getting smarter and more powerful, and as society’s reliance on them continues to grow, so does the need to be smarter about how we manage the associated data.
Healthcare and energy: Two industries clamoring for M2M benefits
There is perhaps no better example of an industry susceptible to the transformative nature of M2M than healthcare. According to a recent study published by GE, clinical and operational inefficiencies are among the main causes of $429 billion being wasted throughout the industry every year. GE estimates that M2M could eliminate 25% of that waste, or roughly $100 billion per year. But, even if it were only able to wipe out 1%, that still equals $4.2 billion in annual savings.
Medical experts are positing everything from connecting devices in hospitals with patient electronic medical records to wireless chips built into prescription medicine bottles that use text alerts to remind individuals to take their medication. Time management, diagnostic and treatment processes can all be dramatically improved through these and other M2M innovations, thereby significantly reducing financial waste and offering patients a better quality of care – provided they have in place the tools needed to prioritize and manage all these data streams. It is big data in the truest sense, but we need to be smarter about how we handle it.
“To make information intelligent, new connections need to be developed so that big data ‘knows’ when and where it needs to go, and how to get there,” the GE study said.
But the buck doesn’t stop with healthcare. Think about the energy industry and how power grids are being pushed to their limits as the global population continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. Smarter power management is the key to a more efficient energy sector, particularly in the case of alternative energy technologies like wind and solar power. By boosting efficiency and limiting wasted resources, these alternatives could quickly become the standard and have an historical impact on the global environment.
Smart meters are playing a particularly important role in this endeavor. Studies conducted by U.K.-based market research firm Visiongain forecast the installation of eight million smart meters worldwide by the end of 2013, with an annual growth rate of 50% extending through 2018. M2M technology and the data it yields could revolutionize both energy production and consumption.
Getting smarter about data
With each of these amazing opportunities come new challenges – ones that industries will have to overcome if the vast potential of M2M is to be realized. Perhaps the easiest way to sum up how we should approach M2M is this: all data is not created equal. For example, the bandwidth allocated to online video gamers should not be prioritized over an emergency signal from someone’s pacemaker. Milk does a body good, but a reminder sent from your Web-connected fridge that you need to pick up another gallon can’t trump data being sent to an engineer that could prevent a critical equipment failure at a power plant.
Centralized policy controls that develop and institute appropriate rule sets are necessary to handle these complexities and make M2M as efficient and innovative as it has the potential to be. They enable service providers to account for specific data types in order to prioritize streams and services, while also managing spikes in traffic and avoiding congestion that disrupts quality of service and quality of experience.
QoS and QoE are important for businesses in any setting, but there needs to be a clear hierarchy. What good is all the bandwidth in the world to a gamer if they have no electricity because a preventable equipment failure led to a power outage that inconvenienced them along with millions of others?
These policy controls ensure that connected devices and the networks they communicate through are sufficiently automated and able to adapt to changes in usage patterns and emerging technologies so their continued use is worthwhile. This is the gateway that allows companies to deliver on promises of maintaining the highest standards possible.
The capacity crunch is very real, and we must move away from this notion that building out networks by constantly adding higher numbers in front of a “G” will solve the problem. That is a short-lived fix, the equivalent of a Band-Aid on a bullet wound. Similarly, “throttling” users’ bandwidth is not the answer, unless the question is how to incur the ire of your customers and drive them into the open arms of your competitors.
What we need is smarter management of how these interconnected devices communicate with one another – and us. This is imperative if we are to use technology to change the world in which we live for the better.
As CEO of Volubill, John Aalbers brings extensive experience in building high growth businesses based on innovative products. Prior to leading Volubill, Aalbers was responsible for the P&L and direction of Intec Telecom Systems’ fastest growing product lines, including Singl.eView and the Dynamic Charging Platform.
