Cloudification of IoT accelerates
Philippe Guillemette, chief technology officer, Sierra Wireless:
“The complexities that companies experience building out and maintaining IoT infrastructure has hindered growth of the sector, leading to the failure of as many as 75 per cent of IoT projects.
“However, in 2020, we will see an uptick in the number (and ambition) of IoT projects, as new IoT solutions that integrate edge devices, wireless connectivity, and cloud APIs into a single all-in-one package start to deliver effectively a ‘cloud-entry for IoT’.
These solutions allow organizations to easily bridge the gap between various ‘things’ – like industrial equipment, shipping containers, and wearables – and cloud services. This will free them to focus on data and the associated processing, not infrastructure, when building IoT applications.”
Sub-6GHz – the place to be for 5G
Dave Dixon, senior product manager, Sierra Wireless:
“As the rollout of 5G proceeds, many assume 5G services that use mmWave spectrum – ultra-high frequency radio waves in the 24 gigahertz (GHz) to 40 GHz range – will be the first to deliver transformative new wireless applications to consumers and businesses.
“However, while mmWave 5G will deliver revolutionary new data speed, latency, and other capabilities, it will also require the build-out of a completely new type of wireless networking infrastructure and the redesign of smart phones and other edge devices from the ground-up.
“These obstacles mean we might not see widespread introduction of new mmWave 5G applications until 2023 – if not later. Sub-6GHz 5G, another type of 5G, uses the same spectrum as existing 4G LTE networks, meaning it will likely be available much sooner than mmWave 5G.
“With companies wanting to start future-proofing their devices by switching to 5G as soon as possible, we are likely to see the explosive growth of sub-6GHz 5G infrastructure, modules and other technologies in 2020, while 5G mmWave networks are being built out.”
Security orchestration to simplify IoT protection
Larry LeBlanc, chief engineer for security, Sierra Wireless:
“To protect their IoT applications from attack, in 2020, organizations will increasingly implement ‘defense-in-depth’ solutions with new security orchestration technologies.
“These technologies orchestrate the deployment and management of protection layers around all elements of the IoT application – edge device, network connectivity and cloud.
“By simplifying IoT security, security orchestration enables companies to implement a robust IoT security strategy without the need for a large, dedicated IoT security team.
“As these security orchestration-enabled solutions become more well-known and adopted, expect small and medium-sized businesses to increase their investments in IoT initiatives now that they know they can achieve strong IoT security without breaking the bank.”
IoT will fast-track the ‘fourth industrial revolution’
Olivier Pauzet, vice presdent and general manager for IoT Solutions, Sierra Wireless:
“While OEMs and other companies have attempted to use the IoT to build a bridge between OT and IT for years, they have often found the process more complex than expected. However, new, all-in-one IoT solutions are leading to a cloudification of the IoT, enabling organizations to essentially plug their OT equipment into their IT systems.
“In fact, IoT Analytics forecasts that by 2020, approximately 50 per cent of industrial assets in factories will be connected to some form of on-premise or remote data collection system. Bridging the IT/OT divide will becoming like signing up for a SaaS application.
“Expect a big uptake in manufacturing and other Industrial IoT project activity, as well as the launch of new IoT applications that demonstrate how the fourth industrial revolution is no longer just a Davos Conference topic.”
