As a general rule I don’t reference product releases by the mainstream technology players as I figure that they have enough marketing muscle of their own, but occasionally I make an exception because a release seems to offer more than the obvious headlines suggest, and as such, may be don’t get picked up and read through in what I consider to be the full context.
Last time was nearly a year ago, and back then, as now, it was Cisco, moving into service capabilities with the generic sounding InterCloud offering that was probably beyond the remit of the ‘Infrastructure’ operations team, but extremely valuable to the Cloud operations team.
Its Cisco’s problem that the name is synonymous with Networking to the point that non-networking staff almost certainly belief that Cisco products will not be of interest to them. But when everything that is driving technology and business capabilities today is dependent on the Internet, to a level that requires new sophistication in Internetworking to be tightly integrated within all the new Clouds, Apps, etc., its time to pay attention to certain Cisco releases.
Cisco recent Internet of Things System announcement takes them beyond networking connectivity and into higher-level interaction functions.
Should you be interested in IoT? The answer may depend on the extent to which you are a business manager versus a member of the IT department. In certain industry sectors IoT adoption is strongly business driven, adding Internet of Things sensors to instrument, and intelligently manage, the previously ‘un-manageable’ is a boardroom topic. The quickest way to understand this and update your knowledge is to take a look at the Industrial Internet Consortium, IIC, members listing, then carry on to browse the rest of the web site.
Impressive, but also consider the following paragraph written by Jurgen Anke, who describes himself as a researcher on Quora in respect of the challenges for full scale IoT development; ‘From my point of view, there are the following major hurdles to overcome’ and first on his list is;
- Interoperability. Besides network level connectivity using the protocols that Antony Passemard has mentioned, we also need standardized data formats and semantics (think DLNA, Bluetooth profiles etc). They describe how devices can operate together. Once that is in place, vendors can develop solutions that customers can mix and match rather than isolated silos. This does not only lower development cost for the vendor but makes it future proof for the customer. Standards will probably emerge in various domains such as energy, health, mobility, and smart home at different points in time’.
The Internet of Things, IOT, or as Cisco call it The Internet of Everything, IOE, is a visible reality as more and more consumer items alone are connected to enjoy an Internet based Apps and Services. Add the Industrial connections and we are all well on track to reach the projected numbers you all have seen in recent months. BUT it does all depend on a new level of Internet Networking Services that’s why developers should now be playing closer attention to Cisco announcements!
The VP and GM of the IoT Systems, Kip Compton at Cisco, states: “The Cisco IoT System provides a comprehensive set of IoT technologies and product that change and accelerate the deployment of infrastructure for the IoT. This new systems approach delivers a framework that creates it attainable to deploy, accelerate and innovate with IoT.” His blog giving full details, and his colleague’s blog, complete with other embedded links, describe in full the six principle elements of the Cisco IoT System;
Six Pillars of Cisco IoT System
Network Connectivity Fog Computing Security: Cyber & Physical
Data Analytics Management and Automation Application Enablement Platform
The diagram below shows Cisco moving beyond their traditional networking connectivity infrastructure layer as they add new layers of capabilities and services. It is likely that Cisco will not be the only Technology Player seeking to drive a new understanding of what it brings to the new wave of technology and business activities, its not called Digital Disruption for nothing!
ps; Please excuse the quality of this blog, it was a quick response to the Cisco announcement on IoT, a topic that follow closely, and was written in a public library in the Netherlands whilst away on my summer sabbatical!