Connectivity and the cloud – these are two mandatory prerequisites to gain priceless insights into the data that businesses generate every day.
Smart solutions are all over the place. For any given problem. But still many organizations fail to use one of the most precious resources available at their disposal: the data they generate every day. That is just mind-boggling. Even more so since connectivity and the cloud are the only prerequisites to leverage the data. The potential benefits may just be as baffling.
Device connectivity enables data gathering
The proof has never been more in the pudding. Valuable data boosts business success. However, data per se has no value. In fact, you could even argue it is very costly. Storage, administration, etc. – all of that generates expenses. Yet data could not be more powerful when it is turned into knowledge. Actionable insights if you will. Nothing can drive efficiency with more vigor. But none of that can happen without connectivity. After all, device connectivity is what enables data gathering.
Connected devices are a first step. However, powerful insight analytics require more. They call for data refinement and for contextualization. But they certainly demand filtering, aggregation and the rendering of actionable insights, too. However, the idea that businesses need to be data driven is not new. In fact, Business Intelligence (BI) has been around for decades. Yet traditional BI requires teams of extremely well-trained professionals. It hinges on expertise that may not be available easily. In effect, this limits the capabilities and thus raises the entry barriers. And that is where the cloud comes into play. The cloud provides effortless means for organizations to benefit from prepackaged services, tools, and reliable expertise.
Insight analytics leverage metadata
Take barcode scanning for instance. It is an extremely powerful means to capture and seize data. Yet there is more data than just the data that comes with the barcode. The barcode may provide the description, it can also be a confirmation or the documentation of a process step. But with the right kind of insight analytics businesses can also leverage the metadata. This includes information such as how long did a scan take? Where was it made? What is the status of the device that captured it? This type of meta data can empower many valuable use cases. Some of which are extremely useful and go beyond analytics to include device management.
Say for instance workers are using a barcode scanner in a logistics environment. Whenever a certain incident occurs this device flashes a blue light. This blue light serves as a warning message for the workers. Yet as the insight analytics demonstrate this blue light may not be useful in this environment. Instead, data suggests you want the device to flash a red light.
But how can you go about updating all the devices that are being used on your shop floor? Typically, this would require a lot of manual work. Yet with the aforementioned connectivity and cloud solutions it is possible to update thousands of devices automatically. With zero touch and no additional manual work.
To be continued!
