Perpetually the technology of IoT is expanding at an unprecedented rate, revolutionizing the world we all know. Within a short span of 6 years, the connected devices on a global scale have multiplied by a factor of two and can be expected to escalate at a more surprising pace in the coming years.
This boom has resulted in the emergence of smart cities and off-the-shelf IoT based solutions for several commercial and industrial solutions. However, the increase in connected devices has made it impossible for IoT adopters to manage a bulk load of data generated from different end devices.
To facilitate the storage of vital information, companies now require an active data accumulation system for their edge devices and remotely situated IoT end nodes. Cloud storage is a robust platform to do so, as it supports easy and quick integration of IoT devices and enables smooth management of data gathered from them.
How did Data Management Become So Difficult?
For many years, companies invested in big data and edge systems to store data from their edge devices and machines to make quick and accurate decisions. These information pieces, when processed through enterprise systems like ERPs, CRMs, and other analytics-based software, develop more data in the form of trends and patterns.
The data generated through them in itself is quite overwhelming for businesses to handle. Yet the need for such systems is always there to manage different operations and processes.
The adoption of IoT systems convolutes things even further. These scalable and flexible solutions opened new doors of breakthrough possibilities for businesses in terms of concurrent monitoring, which provided them with clear visibility in their processes. Even though this was a major opportunity for businesses, it also resulted in a continuous flow of real-time information, handling which is not an easy feat to achieve.
The storage systems may get overwhelmed from the inflow of IoT data in case it is not calibrated accordingly. Also, since the type of data may vary according to the nature of the devices, a proper plan is required along with a robust architecture that assists the changing data models.
Since this flow of data may include viable information about the condition and performance of the connected devices, it can also not be scraped and left unattended. It is a big dilemma that is restricting the absolute adoption of IoT technology.
Enters Cloud Storage:
To resolve this predicament, companies are now turning towards cloud storage. Its ability to manage large amounts of data makes it a perfect fit for IoT solutions. Not only does it remove the need to develop big data rooms, but also facilitates the storage of enterprise information along with data obtained from remote devices.
Its hyper-converged infrastructure not only becomes a common point for data storage but also enables the virtualization of conventional hardware-oriented systems. The cloud storage empowers a business to explore the full potential of IoT systems and modify their operations with very few complications.
Here are some benefits that cloud storage offer to a business willing to adopt the technology of Internet of Things:
1) Secure Data Storage:
To keep their data safe, many companies prefer on-premise technologies and systems to store it instead of a cloud platform. However, what these companies don’t know is that the services of cloud storage provided by MNCs like Microsoft and Adobe are much more secure and safe.
These cloud platforms are monitored by a team of expert security professionals who infuse these systems with complex encryptions and firewalls. These security teams develop storage systems as per industrial standards and obtain proper certification from authoritative organizations.
Moreover, cloud platforms are regularly audited and modified for advanced safety. This also helps the cloud service providers to make sure that high-end performance and security data is readily available to the customers.
All these aspects make cloud one of the most secure and reliable platforms to store data transmitted from the IoT devices.
2) Adaptable to Changing Business Needs:
Edge storage and computing systems require fixed infrastructures in the form of data centers. No doubt, these systems are perfect for applications where the storage and processing of data is required to be executed locally. However, for off-premise applications like distant equipment monitoring, edge computing is not a practical solution.
One of the primary purposes of an IoT ecosystem is to share the required information to people who can use it to generate useful insights or take suitable actions. Building individual data rooms for multiple IoT devices spread across remote locations is neither feasible nor a cost-effective approach.
Furthermore, a company may even expand its reach and size in the future. In such situations, more add-ons and hardware are to be added in the edge computing systems to facilitate the storage of new information. This will require the procurement of new and compatible data storage units along with hardware that integrates it with the existing system.
Cloud storage provides high scalability and flexibility in this sense. A company can buy a new or updated package on a cloud to increase its data storage capabilities. Moreover, the multitier architecture of an IoT ecosystem empowers it to add new devices seamlessly with existing cloud storage.
With the help of gateways and data concentrators, multiple end nodes and devices can be connected to a cloud at once. Cloud storage thus helps companies to explore new application fields and roll on new processes and operations without worrying about data storage issues.
What’s Next in the Cloud Domain?
In the current scenario, cloud storage is the best data storage option that resonates perfectly with the Internet of Things. The implementation of cloud storage for far off IoT devices indeed constitutes speed associated challenges due to fragmented data connectivity. Still, the rise of the 5G network can resolve this issue once and for all. This is among many predictions that industry experts and leaders are making for IoT in 2020.
People also talk about the surge in data from IoT devices that can even overwhelm the cloud storage systems. However, this issue can be easily resolved by programming the IoT devices to share data that may be of use in optimizing processes that the endpoints perform. Various end-to-end IoT solution providers are also working to combine the features of both edge and cloud computing to only store the required data.
The amalgamation of both these technologies can also be considered for IoT systems in the future. With so much happening in the IoT domain, it cannot be said with utter surety where this technology will deviate. However, it is confirmed to create a connected and automated future inevitably. Cloud storage will be an essential part of it.
