Connecting the Dots Between Enterprise Mobility and IoT

Lisbon, Portugal

I had the privilege of having breakfast with Dr. Moshe BenBassat, Founder/CEO of ClickSoftware, on a deck overlooking the Mediterranean this morning.  Over an English breakfast, Dr. BenBassat shared that back in 1985 his team had developed software tools to diagnose equipment for the military.  It seems two thirds of all parts replaced were unnecessary.  The parts were being replaced in an effort to find and fix a problem without having first properly diagnosed it.  His team was tasked with designing an artificial intelligence system to process and analyze data in order to properly diagnose problems so only the required parts would be replaced.

In 1985 there were huge challenges to this task.  There were not wireless data networks commercially available.  There was not a lot of data available.  There were no IoT (Internet of Things) solutions deployed to gather data, there were not "big data" systems that could crunch numbers in seconds and there were no IBM Watson artificial intelligence systems available to diagnose problems and come up with answers in seconds.  Dr. BenBassat's team was successful, but the final solutions could only be used in areas where there was a lot of time available to come up with an answer.  The system couldn't work in a real-time environment.

A lot has changed since 1985.  Today, equipment/assets, using embedded wireless chips and sensors (M2M), can report on itself and wirelessly send data to a server.  This data can be processed in real-time, analyzed and the diagnosis can be shared wirelessly to the mobile device of a service technician.

Today, with big data analysis, service companies don't have to just rely on manufactures' data to understand when maintenance or repairs are required.  If you have thousands of wind turbines operating and reporting their sensor and system data to your server, it does not take a lot of time to start seeing patterns using big data analysis.  These patterns can help you diagnoses problems, and better plan your future maintenance and repairs in a manner that does not result in unplanned shut-downs.  This results in improved productivity and output.

Dr. BenBassat's system designs, math and algorithms for artificial intelligence were accurate and powerful in 1985, but the technology was not there.  It is a different story today.

Today, it is not the lack of technology that prevents these productivity gains, rather it is the lack of management connecting the dots to existing systems and technologies.  I teach SMAC (social, mobile, analytic, cloud) strategies just about every week somewhere in the world.  Most of my work is not teaching about new technologies, but rather helping CIOs connect the dots to what is already available today.

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Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant

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Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

SAP M2M Expert Suhas Uliyar Shares Strategies for the Internet of Things

This is one of the most informative interviews I have recorded on the subject of the IoT (Internet of Things).  IoT is a big subject here at SAPPHIRE NOW 2013.  In this interview Suhas Uliyar shares what an end-to-end M2M (machine to machine) solution looks like in an SAP world.

Learn how the SAP Mobile Platform, Hana, Syclo, Right Hemisphere/ SAP Visual Enterprise, Afaria, Augmented Reality, Mapping, cloud computing and SAP NetWeaver all work together in an M2M solution.

Video Link: http://youtu.be/vJMCzQS-9wA

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Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud (SMAC) Cognizant

View Linkedin Profile

Read the whitepaper on mobile, social, analytics and cloud strategies Don't Get SMACked

Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

SAP and the Internet of Things (M2M)

I had an interesting discussion with SAP's new VP of the Internet of Things, Suhas Uliyar recently.    He was still in the process of deciding whether VP of the Internet of Things was the appropriate title, or if it should be VP of the Connected World or something more representative of how the technology was evolving.  He did not like the traditional M2M (machine to machine) reference as that reflected too much of the old model.  He wanted to reflect the future direction of this technology.

Suhas is an industry veteran and mobility expert.  We have spoken numerous times over the past decade as he was leading efforts at a number of MDM (mobile device management) and enterprise mobility companies.  He is very knowledgeable about the needs of large enterprises.

Now back to the topic of M2M.  The traditional use of M2M technology was a sensor would capture data in the field and feed it to an embedded wireless chip that would send it to a server.  As long as the data was communicating the right results, nothing happened.  If the data results meant there was a problem, then hopefully an alert would be created and a human would get involved.  However, over the years sensors have evolved to be much smarter, and so have the embedded wireless chips.  Today, not only can a wireless embedded chip send data results from a sensor, but it can also receive data from a server and operate machines.  This means rather than simple machine to machine communications, you have a bi-directional data feed that enables machines to operate other machines.  That is cool!  That can also be scary if you are imaginative and like scifi books and movies.

In the past M2M was used to monitor very basic sensor data - door open/door closed, temperature good/bad, pressure good/bad, etc.  However today, SAP is looking at this world of connected devices and pondering the role it will play in big data (SAP Hana), business analytics, CRM, EAM (enterprise asset management).

Analysts have predicted there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2025.  The world is quickly moving to this number.  Already there are examples from early adopters such as Vivint, the winner of Gartner's 1to1 Media CRM Excellence Award on how to wirelessly connect devices to machines and revolutionize an industry.  Vivint has a video available here that demonstrates how they use some of this technology, but you will have to sit through a ClickSoftware commercial to view it.  This is definitely an interesting emerging field.  Companies should start watching and exploring how this technology will impact their industries and markets.

Suhas said the Internet of Things today, is less about sensors and embedded wireless chips, and more about process orchestration.  How will all of these new sources of data introduce efficiencies into companies?  How will the data be analyzed and reported in ways that can change the competitive landscapes?  These are the areas of interest before Suhas today.  Welcome on board the SAP ship!

I publish a newsletter every week on Tuesdays called M2M News Weekly.  According to Suhas that name may be dated, but the news is news :-)

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Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for SMAC, Cognizant

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Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and SMAC analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

SAP Focusing on M2M as Extension to Mobility

This week SAP's President, Corporate Officer Global Solutions, SAP and Head of Mobility Division, Sanjay Poonen sent me a link to an article he published on the importance SAP sees in M2M (machine to machine) communication.  Here is an excerpt, "We look at all of these machines, whether wired or unwired, and see them as extensions of mobile devices." I would also add, SAP sees them as extensions or sensors feeding an SAP system.

Click to Enlarge

Here is part of SAP's role and their partner's role in the M2M field as described by Sanjay, "They (M2M enabled devices) all need to be secured, managed, and enabled to run applications in much the same way as a mobile phone.  Managing this smart machine to machine (M2M) evolution requires a comprehensive architecture and technology solutions that we’re working on with our partners." The news here is that SAP and their partners are focusing on M2M these days.  I am very excited about this.

How does M2M relate to SAP's core focus areas?  Here is more from Sanjay, "At the core of M2M are three key elements: Mobility, Big Data and the Cloud.   These are precisely the focus areas that we’ve designated as innovation vectors at SAP.  And when these three elements come together in use cases like the “Internet of Things” or “Machine-2-Machine”, it’s like getting a “Triple Word Score” in the game of Scrabble!""

Sanjay also shows off his philosophical side with this statement, "Think of M2M communication as the “social collaboration” of machine-to-machine or machine-to-man."  I love this statement!  As a SMAC Analyst (social, MOBILE, analytics and cloud) this fits right into my space.

I have been publishing a weekly newsletter for sometime now on M2M, and have written many articles predicting the convergence of enterprise mobility and M2M.  I see these steps by SAP as validation that, at least this time, I got it right :-)

SAP and M2M

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Kevin Benedict, Head Analyst for SMAC (Social, MOBILE, Analytics and Cloud), Cognizant

Read The Future of Work

Visit MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com

Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict

Join the Strategic Enterprise Mobility Linkedin Group

Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

The Future is Here - M2M, Robotics and Mobile Devices

Fort Leonard Wood (a US Army base) had a ribbon cutting ceremony today for their new Robotics University.   These robots do amazing tasks that save lives.  They conduct some of the most dangerous tasks such as identifying and disabling IEDs (improvised explosive devices).

I recently read several books about the use of robots in the military and one of the robotics engineers was quoted as saying he loves receiving broken pieces of his robots in the mail.  Why?  Each broken, burned and exploded robot represents a potentially saved human life.

On this blog along with content about enterprise mobility, I write a lot about M2M (machine to machine), wireless embedded devices and remote sensors.  These are all fields and technologies closely related to enterprise mobility.  Each of the robots in the picture above communicates with and is controlled by wireless mobile devices.  These robots are machines controlled by machines (M2M) that use the Internet to communicate in real time.

Robots and remote M2M sensors are also data collectors.  They are collecting data in the field and sending the data back to a server for analysis and use in decision making.  At the server, analytics and intelligence software process this information, often in real time.

In the commercial sector, M2M sensors are often used to track and monitor assets, equipment, materials, cargo and supplies.  In fact, companies like ILS Technology partner with SAP, Oracle, IBM and many other ERP vendors to connect M2M devices to ERPs.  The data that comes in from these remote sensors will become increasingly valuable and important to companies.

There are many jobs and tasks that use humans inefficiently or in dangerous environments.  I regularly hear examples of how a person is sent to a remote site just to record and write down data from a piece of equipment in the field.  In fact, a couple of weeks ago I had dinner in Portland, Oregon with an engineering friend who was monitoring water levels in a Puget Sound tidal flat.  They hired a contractor just to drive out to the remote site several times a week for thousands of dollars in order to write down the recorded water levels.  I shared with him the capabilities of remote wireless sensors and he was very keen to utilize them on future projects.

I spoke with the Chief Customer Officer of ILS Technology, Lawrence Latham yesterday.  Lawrence says they spend their time connecting all of the disparate components of M2M systems together and simplifying their implementations so more companies can cost effectively take advantage of them.

Companies like SAP talk about, "Managing the Real Time Enterprise."  Managing a real-time enterprise will increasingly involve connecting devices or things to the internet.  ILS Technology's motto is "We Connect The Internet of Things."

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile Industry Analyst, Consultant and SAP Mentor Alumnus

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Read The Mobility News Weekly

Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

M2M News Weekly - Week of January 16th

Welcome to M2M News Weekly, an online newsletter that consists of the most interesting news and articles related to M2M (machine to machine) and embedded mobile devices.  I aggregate the information, include the original links and add a synopsis of each article.  I also search for the latest market numbers such as market size, growth and trends in and around the M2M market.


Also read Enterprise Mobility Asia News Weekly
Also read Field Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobile Commerce News Weekly
Also read Mobile Marketing News Weekly
Also read Mobile Health News Weekly
Also read Mobility News Weekly
Also read Mobility Charts Weekly

According to ABI Research, smart energy is one of the top two market segments for cellular M2M, the other being automotive telematics. The market for smart energy will represent more than $7.5 billion in 2016 according to ABI. Read Original Content

The market for cumulative cellular M2M connections will rise from about 110 million connections in 2011 to approximately 365 million connections by 2016. This represents a compounded annual growth rate of roughly 27% through 2016 and about $35 billion in connectivity services revenue. Read Original Content

According to Zpryme’s, the total Smart Grid Communications market is slated to experience strong market growth through 2015, projected to reach nearly $1.6 Billion. Read Original Content

ClickSoftware is an SAP mobility partner and the leading provider of automated workforce management and optimization solutions for every size of service business.  This newsletter is sponsored in part by ClickSoftware - http://www.clicksoftware.com/.

The smart grid is on pace to hit a $2 trillion cumulative investment between 2010 and 2030, according to a new study from UK research firm Memoori. The firm estimates the sector will need to grow by a compound annual growth rate of 23% to hit that mark, peaking at $155 billion in 2022. Read Original Content

Mobile Expert Podcast: Kore Telematic's Alex Brisbourne, Part 1

I am very interested in how the enterprise mobility markets and the M2M (machine to machine) communications markets will converge.  From a BI (business intelligence) perspective, data coming in from the field all looks the same whether it comes from a person carrying a smartphone, or a remote M2M sensor reporting the status and location of a high value asset.  At the enterprise BI level it is all valuable data that needs to be analyzed and converted into action based intelligence.

In this two part podcast I am interviewing Alex Brisbourne, CEO of Kore Telematics on these subjects.  Alex has over 20 years of experience in the networking and telecommunications industry, in Europe, North America and Asia.  KORE Telematics is the world's largest specialized provider of Business Class all digital wireless services for the M2M (machine-to-machine), telematics and telemetry markets.

Read Part 2.



Whitepapers of Note

The Business Benefits of Mobile Adoption with SAP Systems
ClickSoftware Mobility Suite and Sybase Mobility Solution
Networked Field Services

Webinar of Note

Redstone Arsenal’s (DOD/Chugach) 3 Maintenance Challenges Solved by Mobile

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Kevin Benedict, Independent Mobile and M2M Industry Analyst, SAP Mentor Volunteer
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the SAP Enterprise Mobility Group on Linkedin
Read The Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Retailing News Weekly
Read The Field Mobility News Weekly
Read The Mobile Money News Weekly
Read The M2M News Monthly
Full Disclosure: I am an independent mobility analyst, consultant and blogger. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.