by Theresa Miller
What is IoT or “Internet of Things”? There is a slow and steady amount of buzz about what this might mean, and lingo such as “Internet of Things” and “IoT” are slowly becoming part of our daily conversations. So what is all the excitement about?
The above image found online is a great visual depiction of what IoT has the potential to be. Basically, it’s where PCs and mobile devices meet the electronics in our home, at work, and on the road. This is connectivity back to the “things” that we use in our daily lives that we would normally have to be physically present to take care of. These are “things” that can potentially be controlled through an IoT device, mobile phone or PC.
As I started looking at this technology more, I was instantly reminded of an episode of Big Bang Theory (BBT) from 2008, where the BBT gang spent the entire episode working to turn on a lamp in their apartment and the stereo in their apartment from their computer. While this isn’t a perfect depiction of the underlying technology available today the concept is similar. Here’s a short clip of this episode in case you missed it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW9FbjjkKo4
IoT for Business
From a business perspective, there is a lot to learn about what this could mean. For example, in January at Citrix Summit, it was announced that Citrix purchased a company called Octoblu http://octoblu.com/. From some of the initial blog entries on the topic there could be integrations with Citrix Netscaler, XenMobile and more. http://blogs.citrix.com/2015/01/28/hello-octoblu/ There also seem to be more and more companies making IoT devices which will help shape the landscape for how we integrate IoT into our lives.
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I also think that as businesses venture into this space security will also be a huge consideration. It seems like lately there is a new security breech being publicly announced every other week these days. If the strategy ultimately does involve integrating this technology with products that have a solid security design, this could be very beneficial.
IoT at Home
If you look at some of the things that are already being tested they are quite impressive. For example, Octoblu workflows can be setup to be integrated with your car and home. Forgot to shut your lights off when you left your home? Octoblu to the rescue! Here is a great article that walks through multiple examples of its usefulness in the home while you are away. http://blogs.citrix.com/2015/02/11/we-are-living-in-the-future/
IoT Mobile
As a child growing up in the 80’s I was fascinated with the car Kit from the TV show Knight Rider. Kit could map out plans, scan a building for danger, check if someone was home, drive on its own and more.
Kit was a very early idea of what the “Internet of Things” could have been in the 80’s. Even more impressive this was a time when we didn’t have the internet, PCs or mobile devices in our homes. It was simply a cool dream that now has the potential to become a reality with the technologies of today. Here is another article that covers some of the early possibilities of IoT use within modern day vehicles. http://blogs.citrix.com/2015/02/09/control-your-tesla-with-octoblu/
Only the Beginning
So what do we have to look forward too with the “Internet of Things”? Only time will really tell, but this has the potential allow us programmatically control many things in our daily lives in both the workplace and at home through our mobile devices, pc’s and more. This is only the beginning and there is so much to learn yet, but personally I cannot wait!