IoT 3 mins read

How to Manage IoT Devices at Scale

We have partnered with Cisco and its new Edge Intelligence, to help customers simplify IoT deployment.

Yasir Qureshi Yasir Qureshi

In the Internet of Things world, scalability is key – and is one of the most challenging issues. What does the number 20 billion mean to you? In IoT it is the number of connected devices in the world. With every industry from automotive, industrial and retail to insurance and utilities starting – and then growing – IoT projects, that number is predicted to double by 2025.

Most companies start small, with one or two IoT projects and a handful of devices. Once the use case and return on investment are proven, and they realize the value of the data, they can begin to scale IoT across the company.  This is where the challenge lies. Scalability is the most common issue; an IoT solution has to handle a large number of connected devices and scale as the business requires. The solution must be future-proof, allowing your business to evolve and change without requiring a whole new system.

Knowledge-powered businesses that can capture their IoT data in real time, and then analyze it for insights, are the ones winning and disrupting the market.

Using data for water conservation

Look at how water utilities are doing this, for example. Water conservation and management are top priorities for many countries and water utilities are under strict regulatory pressure to comply.  

By using IoT sensors to collect and monitor water meters and pumps, utilities can detect leaks in real time. They can then use a triage process to analyze the leakage severity and the environmental impact, and automate processes to direct the right people with the right skills and right tools to where they are most effective.

Here at Software AG we take saving water seriously, so we have created a solution to help water utilities better manage their supply. The Cumulocity IoT Solution Accelerator for Water Management provides utilities with a quick way to gain insights from meter data to minimize leaks and lower the costs involved with supplying water to customers.

IoT on the edge

In this example, and in many others – from monitoring remote farms for soil conditions, to checking oil wells for pressure and vibration – the IoT device necessary is often located far from civilization and connectivity.  If the data does not make it to the cloud, where it can be analyzed, it cannot be used to optimize processes or prevent issues.  

But what if you could bridge the gap between where data is generated to where it is consumed? You could extract, transform and deliver data from your connected assets – from edge to multi-cloud destinations – with granular data control.

Data orchestration software

This is why we have partnered with Cisco. Cisco’s new offering for IoT edge, Cisco Edge Intelligence (CEI), can do all of this and more. CEI is a service deployed on Cisco’s IoT Gateway/Networking portfolio for easy, out-of-the box deployment.

It offers pre-integrated data extraction for specific industries and converts raw data to intelligent data, with granular data governance. When Cisco’s new Edge Intelligence is combined with Software AG’s Cumulocity IoT, running in a data center or the cloud, customers will be able to keep IoT simple – with little or no coding.

“Using pre-integration of Cisco’s new Edge Intelligence with Software AG’s application enablement platform running in cloud/data center helps customers simplify IoT deployments and accelerates unlocking business value” said Anoop Mohan, Director, IoT Business Unit at Cisco.