What Is IoT?

• IoT Definition

  IoT Definition

  Internet of things (IoT) refers to the network of smart devices (known as "things") embedded with sensors, applications, software, and technologies used to exchange data with other devices over the internet, without human intervention.
• What are examples of IoT devices?

  What are examples of IoT devices?

  IoT devices are smart devices such as actuators, gadgets, appliances, sensors, and machines programmed to run specific applications or software to provide support for internet connectivity and interact with other devices over the internet. Moreover, IoT devices grant remote access to users for managing the device based on their needs. These devices can be embedded into other mobile devices, medical devices, industrial equipment, environmental sensors, and more.

  The use of IoT devices is drastically increasing, and these devices use low-energy wireless and Bluetooth, LTE, near-field communication (NFC), artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning technologies to bring intelligence and autonomy to various systems and processes, including smart industrial manufacturing and home automation. IoT devices include smart refrigerators, smartwatches, smart door locks, medical sensors, intelligent fire alarms, fitness trackers, and more. They can easily integrate with software applications and connect with other devices to exchange information over the internet. They help users connect to the physical world.

  Common IoT Device Examples

  Data gathered through IoT devices gives us the ability to streamline business processes; improve efficiency, health, and safety; automate tasks; and take a deeper look at our systems and environments. IoT devices are used for various purposes, such as smart home security systems, autonomous farming equipment, wearable health monitors, smart factory equipment, wireless inventory trackers, logistics tracking, biometric cybersecurity scanners, and ultra-high-speed wireless internet. IoT devices include the following:

  • Sensors: In IoT devices, sensors play a crucial role. They can monitor and capture data about the environment, including motion, temperature, pressure, flow, and acceleration, and they convert the data into a human-readable format. Sensors can be used in agriculture, tank monitoring, flow metering, gas level monitoring, and more.
  • Radio devices: The role of the radio devices in IoT applications is to send signals wirelessly between devices equipped with a transmitter and a receiver. Radio devices can be used in industrial automation, smart agriculture, smart city lighting, solar fields, and more.
  • Systems on modules (SOMs) and single-board computers (SBCs): A system on module brings simplicity and intelligence to an embedded IoT system. One of the major benefits of using SOMs is they provide excellent design usability and integrate with different computer applications. A single-board computer is a system built on a single circuit board, including memory, microprocessors, I/O, and connectivity. The most common uses of SOMs and SBCs are medical imaging, precision agriculture, electric vehicles, and more.
  • Gateways: A gateway is an IoT device built to connect other IoT devices—such as controllers and sensors—with the internet. All the data moving to the cloud travels through the gateway. A gateway can be a software application or a dedicated hardware appliance. Gateways help minimize the enormous volumes of data generated via devices, applications, and sensors. They improve response times and network costs and provide additional security for IoT networks. Connecting radio devices, data encryption, and sensor communications are some common use cases of gateways.
• What is IoT device management?

  What is IoT device management?

  Although IoT solutions and devices provide significant benefits for the industry to thrive, they need regular monitoring, maintenance, and management.

  IoT device management is the process of provisioning, monitoring, authenticating, maintaining, and diagnosing connected devices operating in an IoT environment. It’s important for organizations to have an effective and reliable device management solution to ensure the smart IoT devices are up-to-date, connected, and secure.

  Basic IoT Device Management Fundamentals

  • Creating device management policy: To build an effective IoT device management strategy, you must create a policy with guidelines for IoT device integrations and connections to your IoT network. Moreover, if you allow devices to be added in the future, this policy must also include guidelines around network segments to support highly critical business processes.
  • Provisioning and authentication: While adding new IoT devices, it’s important to ensure you add trusted, reliable, secure, and authenticated devices. Provisioning is the process used to enroll devices into the system, whereas authentication allows you to verify the devices with appropriate credentials.
  • Configuration and control: As soon as the device is onboarded, it needs to be configured. One of the critical factors is fine-tuning the provisioned devices. Adjust the device configuration settings to ensure functionality and improve performance.
  • Using device management and monitoring tools: Using a set of comprehensive IoT network management and monitoring tools is a must. IoT device management tools provide intelligent and secure provisioning of each device to accelerate time to market and circumvent risks. These tools also offer device authentication features to establish a secure connection between devices and IoT services.
• How does IoT work?

  How does IoT work?

  IoT technology includes sensors and microprocessors designed to connect smart devices and exchange data over the cloud. Once the data is transmitted to the cloud via the internet, it’s further analyzed to trigger actions based on trends over time, such as sending an alert or automatically adjusting sensors and devices without human intervention. If human input is required, you can directly access the data on the web and adjust things via the user interface.
• What is BYOD?

  What is BYOD?

  Bring your own device (BYOD) operations have recently become more prevalent. BYOD refers to a trend commonly followed by enterprises to provide flexibility and convenience to employees. It can be explained as employees bringing their devices and connecting them to the organization's network. Personal devices can include smartphones, tablets, USB drives, personal computers, and so on. Employees can easily access work-related systems as well as potentially business-critical information and confidential data.

  With the advent of the IoT and BYOD and numerous smart devices connecting to an enterprise network, IT teams are facing a new set of challenges and roadblocks. One of the major challenges an enterprise’s network faces with the IoT and BYOD is they make device management difficult. It’s important to have network, asset discovery, and configuration management tools in place for a unified visibility and management workflow.