In the same way, IoT deployed on an industrial scale promises a myriad of environmental and business benefits.
But the large scale deployment of IoT to control agricultural, urban and industrial landscapes presents unique servicing, management and analytical challenges that need to be answered. Remote access solutions offer the tools to do just this.
3 ways remote access solutions make the smart world smarter
1. Agriculture
From mega-dairies to the massive ranches of America and Australia, the prospect of farming vast tracts of land offers obvious economies of scale to landowners. At the same time it presents significant physical challenges to overcome.
How, for example, do you look after crops and cattle spread out over hundreds of square miles? How can you best deploy your human resource to solve the problems that are most pressing on the ground?
The promise of IoT in agriculture is being realized fast.
Tracking technology, automation and IoT powered health analysis, feeding, care and milking solutions are all being used to extract the maximum value from different landscapes and the animals farmed within them.
Keenan & Co, a manufacturer of feeder equipment for dairy and beef cows, are already using technology to automate feeding regimes and ensure the optimal mix of nutrients are added to feed as and when required. Reported yield is now up 25% without the need for extra rations.
The need for remote access in these scenarios is evident – machinery that keeps cattle alive and helps landowners monitor and farm in remote landscapes has to be accessed easily and quickly. It is vital for the health and well being of livestock as well as ensuring the productivity of hectare-age is always being monitored and optimized.
2. Smart Cities
According to McKinsey – IoT solutions in buildings and urban landscapes are already boosting the economic development of global cities by more than 5%.
What’s more they are projected to deliver at least $20 trillion in additional economic benefits by 2026. This is being achieved through real time monitoring of water and energy efficiency, the management of the ‘health’ of buildings and whole neighborhoods through an interconnected network of sensors and other devices. The scale of the solutions and the inaccessibility of certain pieces of machinery buried deep in a city’s underworld or buildings’ pipework require remote access to interrogate, maintain and update software without disruption.
The ability to connect remotely to a device allows you to monitor what is happening in real time and resolve any issues quickly. It also allows you to perform maintenance such as software or firmware upgrades without the need to physically access the devices.
3. Smart business and industry
The IoT has facilitated and perfected the ‘Just in Time’ inventory management that is transforming supply chain economics around the world. It contributes to a lean industrial methodology designed to increase efficiency, cut costs and decrease waste by ordering and receiving goods only when they are needed. Tracking consignments across supply chains and triggering ordering workflows are among the tasks that can be achieved with a range of IoT solutions. Maintenance of these dispersed solutions can be better kept up with remote access – ensuring there is no break in the chain at any point.
Remote access is also assisting with the analysis of the success of these IoT strategies. As this recent article suggests there is still a lack of clarity about the precise long term benefits and opportunities presented by industrial IoT.
Remote access to IoT data across multiple retail outlets and within multiple supply chain touch-points can contribute to a more comprehensive picture of retail activity and the movement of goods locally, nationally, or even globally – allowing businesses to plan and project growth more effectively.
Remote access can work alongside the IoT to monitor and manage the tasks and functions that it is designed to carry out. The larger and more complex these tasks and networks are, the more vital it is to have the ability to interrogate and control every part of them.
In some cases, remote access will enable you to continually optimize large scale business efficiencies and performance; in some cases they will be the tools by which you keep whole cities and communities connected, moving and alive.
