Workload Automation Blog

Big Data, the Internet of Things, and Extracting Insights that Create Value

2 minute read
Criss Scruggs

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There’s no end in sight to the growth of connected devices (also known as the Internet of Things, or IoT) and this expansion can have a big impact on your business. For example, sensors can track data on shopper behavior in stores to maximize revenue or monitor manufacturing processes to ensure quality. Companies that can pull and process data from these devices to gain meaningful insights will have a distinct competitive advantage. How significant is this growth in IoT? By 2018, Forrester forecasts that connected devices (like connected cars, utility meters, etc.) will outnumber cellphones and increase from less than 5 billion in 2015 to almost 16 billion by 2021.1 Yet while the focus on IoT tends to be all about connected devices, the data they produce is much more valuable. In fact, again, according to Forrester, by 2025, IoT is expected to deliver a potential impact of at least $3.9 trillion.2 Yes, that’s $3.9 TRILLION.

Enter Hadoop
Forrester describes how Hadoop plays an important and growing role in extracting insight from IoT. They also explain how solutions for processing and obtaining insight from data streaming and connected devices provide much greater opportunities for business. Control-M for Hadoop from BMC, for example, automates and accelerates Hadoop data workflows to reduce costs and speed service delivery. Since IoT is expanding at such a rapid pace, being able to deliver data on-time, every time between business critical applications will help to drive business success.

Unlock the Value of IoT
Forrester highlighted some examples of how companies are delivering value by providing timely analysis of data as it streams from remote sensors. This includes:

  • Finding a better way to integrate car charging into renewable energy grids based on more effective weather prediction and communication flows within the power grid to predict and manage energy requirements more effectively.
  • Improving the diagnosis and treatment of asthma with connected devices to understand and devise devices that are better able to survey the environments in which they will be used.
  • Moving from monthly utility consumption reports to real-time dashboards in smart homes that will ultimately deliver real-time insight to millions of customers.

How to Transform Business with Insights from the IoT
What do organizations need to do to reap the benefits of IoT? They need systems that provide insight into customer content and behavior focused on the data within IoT, which should be extracted cost effectively and analyzed rapidly and effectively. Without the capability to process Hadoop workloads in motion quickly and cost effectively, there is a wasted opportunity to create meaningful competitive advantage. That’s why it’s important to consider how enterprise workload automation can automate and accelerate Hadoop batch workflows to capture greater competitive value from this data. Get more details in this brief from Forrester: Brief: Streaming Data from the Internet of Things Will be the Big Data World’s Bigger Second Act.

1 Forrester, Brief: Streaming Data From The Internet Of Things Will Be The Big Data World’s Bigger Second Act, July 5, 2016. 2 Ibid.

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These postings are my own and do not necessarily represent BMC's position, strategies, or opinion.

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About the author

Criss Scruggs

Senior Manager, Solutions Marketing
With more than 19 years in technology product marketing and management, Criss Scruggs currently drives outbound marketing programs for Digital Business Automation including Big Data and DevOps initiatives at BMC. Additional areas of focus at BMC included solutions marketing for IT Service Management, IT Asset Management, and Mobile Device Management. Prior to BMC, Scruggs spent several years with other IT organizations focused on Systems and Applications Performance Management, VMware Management, and VoIP/Unified Communications Management businesses and several years in product management with Compaq/HP. Scruggs holds a master of business administration degree from The Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University and a bachelor of arts degree in advertising from the University of Oklahoma.