Stepping into an Everything Connected World
While social media has connected the world in one sense, an automated and digitally connected world is becoming more popular—it's called the Internet of Things. And some might be familiar with the OnStar service in cars, a subscription based in-car communications and security service that has been in existence for some time now. AT&T has recently taken over the OnStar contract from Verizon, who was the primary carrier all along.
Similarly on the home front, disparate security and connected systems have been in existence for several years. AT&T recently announced its digitally connected home program with endless possibilities for residential digital and remote monitoring and management. Several other initiatives have also been ongoing both from big players, such as Microsoft and Cisco, and small players, such as SmartThings, Xanboo, and Zonoff. It is exciting to see the crowd funding for some of these programs, which down the line will help embrace and accept these solutions better in the marketplace.
Although these developments are very welcoming to track, witness, and be a part of, I also wonder what impact these will have from software engineering and implementation angles. Although enterprise-to-enterprise system functionality will have to be a core area of focus, the other areas that need to be considered—and may even be of greater priority—include the system’s security and performance.
Imagine someone's being able to hack into your account and operate it. Similarly, performance takes a high stand—especially since most of these systems can be operated remotely. For instance, if someone sitting on a Florida beach wants to operate a home lock in Detroit and the system is not available, it defeats the point of having a connected home program.
In addition to these core attributes, another area gaining more limelight with all of these technologies is hardware-software integration and a focus on embedded development and programming among a plethora of devices to support interoperability. Engineers are becoming more comfortable developing and testing software—not just from an application standpoint but with regards to interfacing with devices given the recent increase in mobile computing.
Connected devices bring a third dimension to the mix of having a system installed at a user’s home, thus making it a full circle of systems at the provider’s center, systems at the user’s residence, and the mobile platform on which the user will be accessing and using the connected program. Users need to be clear on what they want from connected devices when choosing their solutions, given the varying options and levels of maturity for each of them.
While several investments are primarily being made from a connected home angle, some additional avenues expected to benefit as well include health and education. The industry is already gearing up for this wave with conferences dedicated to this concept. These are exciting times indeed!
