The Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing are two different technologies that are closely linked. When the two come together, they create powerful innovations that will continue to change how we interact with our devices and one another and how we store, manage, and consume data.
IoT has the potential to transform your company by allowing you to create smarter products and services, collect data that will influence your business decisions, and possibly change your business model to facilitate growth and expansion.
The Internet of Things, labeled “the next Industrial Revolution,” will continue to change the way we live and how businesses interact with their employees, customers, and assets. And cloud computing will be at the heart of everything the Internet of Things has to offer.
How Do IoT & Cloud Work Together?
Bot Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud computing aim to improve the efficiency of everyday tasks and have a complementary relationship. On the one hand, IoT generates a large amount of data, while cloud computing allows this data to travel. Many cloud providers take advantage of this to offer a pay-per-use model in which customers only pay for the resources they use.
In addition, cloud hosting as a service adds value to IoT startups by allowing them to benefit from economies of scale, lowering their overall costs.
Furthermore, cloud computing enables better developer collaboration, which is the order of the day in the IoT space. The cloud allows developers to quickly implement projects by enabling them to store and access data from anywhere. IoT companies can also access a massive amount of Big Data by storing data in the cloud.
IoT applications are built on the principles of mobility and widespread networking, just as cloud computing is built on the principles of speed and scale. As a result, to get the most out of their combination, both cloud and IoT must collaborate to create cloud-based IoT applications. The success of IoT can be attributed to this partnership.
Unlock Your IoT Potential With Cloud Computing
The inter-relationship between IoT and cloud computing is one of the most important contributing factors to IoT’s growing success. Simply put, the cloud provides much more than the connectivity that IoT devices require. Indeed, IoT devices rely on the cloud to store critical data in a single location where it can be managed and distributed in real-time.
The following are a few reasons why businesses should use the cloud to maximize the value of their IoT devices:
- Scalability And Deployment
The cloud can assist businesses in overcoming the significant technical and financial challenges that come with implementing an IoT solution. Cloud platforms make it quick and easy to spin up virtual servers, launch databases, and create the data pipelines needed to run an IoT solution by eliminating the need to set up physical servers, configure networks, deploy databases, manage connections, or perform a variety of other infrastructure tasks.
While on-premises IoT network infrastructures necessitate a significant amount of hardware and time-consuming configuration efforts to ensure that everything works properly, implementing a cloud-based IoT system is significantly easier. Scaling up the number of IoT-enabled devices, for example, is as simple as renting another virtual server or more cloud storage.
Similarly, cloud services make it easier to manage the lifecycle of remote devices. They typically provide a 360-degree view of the device infrastructure as well as tools to automate firmware and software updates and setup over the air.
- Interoperability And Data Mobility
Data stored and processed on a cloud server can be accessed from anywhere globally without the need for additional infrastructure or networking. Data can also be collected remotely and real-time from any device, located anywhere and in any time zone.
Enterprises’ ability to link or integrate data generated by IoT devices with other data resources is also hampered by interoperability. The cloud can assist in integrating applications and the seamless integration of all of these data sources so that they can be analyzed regardless of source. Similarly, the cloud can help businesses streamline integrating their IoT solution with other intelligent products developed by third parties to provide added value to users.
- Communication & Data Management
Because of the data they provide, IoT devices are valuable to both businesses and consumers. However, when they communicate with one another, they become even more helpful. Smart thermostats, for example, can alert smart refrigerators when the temperature rises too high. At the same time, a connected microcontroller can predict when preventative maintenance is required to keep an assembly line running smoothly.
The cloud plays a vital role in this process by streamlining and optimizing machine-to-machine communications and making them more accessible across interfaces.
Organizations will also need to find a cost-effective way to store, process, and access data from their IoT solutions due to increased interactions between a growing number of devices and the massive volumes of data generated. Plus, they must scale up to handle peak demand or increase the infrastructure required to handle it whenever they add new functionality.
- Security
Concerns about how security flaws and failures to update IoT devices have created a gateway for cybercriminals to infiltrate have made headlines in recent years. In two ways, cloud platforms can help businesses improve their security posture. To begin with, as we’ve seen, cloud providers make it simple to perform routine software and firmware updates, which can be signed with digital certificates that assure users that the updates are safe and legitimate.
Second, cloud platforms enable customized client and server-side encryption, which secures as much data as possible as it flows through the IoT ecosystem and when it is stored in databases at rest. Many cloud providers also offer 24/7 monitoring, reducing the risk of a major security breach.
While many businesses are eager to take advantage of IoT technologies, those still reliant on legacy infrastructures will be left behind. Enterprises will see improved rates of connectivity and ROI thanks to the cloud acting as a powerhouse for IoT device communications and memory.
Similarly, unless IoT platforms are appropriately integrated with the cloud, IoT device management and keeping up with the increasing demand for IoT services will be difficult.
Conclusion
By taking a hybrid cloud approach, IT teams will be able to find the right mix of hosting options for managing and getting the most out of IoT devices and future-proofing the IoT strategy without investing significant time, money, and effort in costly infrastructure. Cloud computing can assist businesses in developing IoT products more quickly, manage and handling all of the data generated, appropriately securing the IoT ecosystem, and achieving better integration with existing systems and other IoT devices.
For companies preparing to scale their IoT ambitions, the cloud will be critical to achieving faster time to market, greater flexibility, and higher lifetime value for their IoT deployments.
