IoT can be defined as an interconnected system in which devices are connected using network communication technologies. IoT device management is the backbone of an IoT architecture that enables communication between devices or things. IoT device management software provides provisioning, monitoring, authentication, device configuration, software update, and patch management, all of which are indispensable requirements for IoT deployment. Thus, IoT device management aims at managing the exponentially growing IoT devices, providing extraordinary customer experience, maximum uptime, and device security.

Visionary leaders are the leading market players in terms of new developments such as product launches, innovative technologies, and the adoption of growth strategies. These players have a broad product offering that caters to most of the regions globally. Visionary leaders primarily focus on acquiring the leading market position through their strong financial capabilities and their well-established brand equity.

Dynamic Differentiators are established players with very strong business strategies. However, they have a weaker product portfolio compared to the visionary leaders. They generally focus only on a specific type of technology related to the product.

Innovators in the competitive leadership mapping are vendors that have demonstrated substantial product innovations as compared to their competitors. The companies have focused on product portfolios. However, they do not have very strong growth strategies for their overall business, when compared with the visionary leaders.

Emerging companies have niche product and service offerings. Their business strategies are not as strong as that of the established vendors. The emerging vendors include the new entrants in the market, emerging in terms of product portfolio and geographic reach, and require time to gain significant traction in the market.

IoT device management software find enormous applications in the healthcare vertical; for instance, in monitoring and notifying a patient’s medical health parameters and medication. Additionally, IoT telecom services are applied for easy monitoring and ad-hoc patient diagnosis, offering automation in operations. The latest IoT-enabled diagnostics devices combined with lab-on-chip technologies have opened innovative treatment opportunities to further arrest the progression of various serious diseases. The transportation and logistics vertical are facing challenges in tracking their logistics components, including trucks and drivers, among various others to achieve automation and scalability in their operations. IoT application in connected logistics allows clients and logistics providers to make quick adjustments, in case there is any delay in shipments. IoT services strengthen supply chain management by offering transparency so that the users can take effective decisions in real-time. IoT is empowering the utility vertical by offering smart services such as smart grid for energy consumption, smart gas metering, and smart water metering. The smart utility domain manages the infrastructure which offers vital services to communities such as water, electricity, and gas. IoT Device Management Software plays a key role in the manufacturing application through identification technologies. By using smart devices such as sensors, actuators, and tags, the production processes can be optimized, and the entire lifecycle of objects from production to delivery can be monitored. By tagging items and containers, the status of the shop, location, and disposition of materials, and the status of production machines can be obtained.

The IoT system is comprised of three major components: devices, connectivity technologies, and applications. These smart objects in the IoT need to execute intelligent algorithms for interacting with other things such as sensors, actuators, or tags, in an efficient manner. With the increase in the usage of IoT technology, organizations are implementing various solutions to boost the overall efficiency of their IoT system. The solution segment is one of the most promising components of the IoT market. This chapter provides a detailed description of all IoT solutions along with their market size forecast and estimation.

The IoT Device Management Software segment includes real-time streaming analytics, security solutions, data management, remote monitoring, and network bandwidth management. Real-time streaming analytics solution follows the distributed and scalable data integration framework to analyze various sources of data and events. It also helps organizations to detect irregularities in real-time data and trigger alerts whenever there is an error in the IoT ecosystem. IoT security solutions address various security challenges such as Point-of-Sale (PoS) threat, threats at sensors, gateways, and threat of securing IoT data and end devices. Additionally, data management solution focuses on device data, while remote monitoring system focuses on monitoring the assets of an organization, thereby reducing the time and cost of service. Network bandwidth management is a collection of tools and techniques that can be used by an organization to manage demand across critical segments of the network.

REAL-TIME STREAMING ANALYTICS

Smart and connected IoT devices generate huge amounts of data, which can be analyzed and used for various applications across different industry verticals. This data can be transformed into important information and is used to enhance the overall efficiency and profitability of organizations. A real-time streaming analytics solution follows the distributed and scalable data integration framework to analyze various sources of data and events. It helps organizations to detect irregularities in real-time data and trigger alerts whenever there is an error in the IoT ecosystem. Vendors face various challenges throughout the implementation of real-time analytics. Some of these challenges are analyzing event streams continuously; analyzing different types of data in a wide variety of formats; providing aggregated and individualized analytics for each device; responding to discovered insights using automated processes; and scalability and high availability for large scale deployments. Overcoming these challenges and deploying the required solution can help organizations in easy decision-making, customer retention, and taking appropriate business-related decisions in real-time. Various vendors such as Microsoft Corporation and IBM Corporation offer real-time streaming analytics solutions due to its importance in the IoT ecosystem

SECURITY SOLUTION

The use of IoT is increasing at a rapid pace across various industry verticals such as manufacturing, healthcare, and home and automation. The implementation of IoT has been instrumental in transforming local industries into global by connecting remote branches, enabling M2M communication.

The evolution of IoT has created several security challenges such as PoS threat, threats at sensors, gateways, and threat of securing IoT data and end devices. These threats have a devastating impact on businesses and can lead to great financial loss if IoT security systems are not considered. Vendors make use of various principals to secure IoT systems such as incorporating security during the design phase, using the latest operating system to avoid unknown vulnerabilities, identifying and authenticating the devices connected to the network, patching of security updates, and implementing vulnerability management strategies.

DATA MANAGEMENT

Managing IoT device data is one of the most important and crucial aspects for any application area. Data management solution is required to take care of the device logs, IP addresses, serial numbers, and model numbers. Most organizations convert this information into metadata, which is further categorized by complex algorithms. Data management solutions help to capture data such as meter readings, temperature readings, and sensor readings. These readings are converted into a format, which is supported by data analytics software for further operations. If a large number of devices are installed in an IoT ecosystem, some of them are bound to have problems, such as connectivity issues or device firmware problems. Connectivity log plays an important role in managing all the device problems related to failed connectivity. Devices can also report the diagnostic information in the form of error codes consisting of a time stamp, which can be analyzed to take the necessary action for efficient device management.

REMOTE MONITORING

IoT remote monitoring solution is the implementation of an end-to-end monitoring solution for multiple machines running in remote locations. Asset-intensive industries face numerous challenges when it comes to ensuring mission-critical plants and maximum efficiency of equipment. Moreover, in order to meet device uptime and overall business operation expectations, businesses are focusing on their assets and their monitoring.

Remote monitoring systems enable businesses to upgrade and control the products in the field. A user can download software patches instead of making in-person service calls and can remotely adjust the different product parameters and attributes to achieve optimum performance.

Remote monitoring is also used for reducing the cost of service. Connected devices can speed-up time to resolution by linking sensor data and existing knowledge bases, and providing service engineers with accurate information that can speed-up problem diagnosis and resolution. For instance, in an IoT-enabled business, if device failure occurs at a remote location, a user can get enough information about that device before arriving on the site. In this way, a user is well-versed with the problem beforehand and can save time and cost.

NETWORK BANDWIDTH MANAGEMENT