How can cloud communication be beneficial for IoT?

When connected with IoT, the cloud enables things that’s never seen before making business thrive at a faster rate.

Cloud computing enables companies to store, manage and process data over cloud-enabled platforms providing flexibility, scalability and connectivity. Different models of cloud computing when implemented correctly help businesses with digital transformation, efficiency and growth. However, when connected with IoT, the cloud enables things that’s never seen before making business thrive at a faster rate.

There are several cloud services & solutions playing numerous roles in an IoT environment. Some of the cloud computing services have inbuilt capabilities of machine learning, business intelligence tools and SQL engines to perform complex tasks required of IoT. But, let us understand how these cloud services benefit the IoT ecosystem in this article.

Some of the benefits derived by the convergence of IoT and cloud computing includes:

Enables remote computing capabilities: With a large storage capacity, IoT eliminates the dependencies on on-site infrastructure. With continued development and internet-based tech development such as the internet and devices supporting advanced cloud solutions, cloud technology has become mainstream. Packed with IoT, cloud solutions provides enterprises with the capability to access remote computing services with a single click or command.

Security & Privacy: Tasks can be handled automatically with cloud tech & IoT, organizations are able to reduce security threats by a considerable amount. A cloud tech-enabled with IoT is a solution that provides preventive, detective and corrective control. With effective authentication and encryption protocols, it also provides users with strong security measures. Protocols such as biometrics in IoT products help manage as well as safeguard user identities along with data.

Data Integration: Current tech developments have not only integrated IoT and cloud smoothly but also provide real-time connectivity and communication. This in turn makes the extraction of real-time information about key business processes and performing on-spot data integration with 24/7 connectivity easy. Cloud-based solutions with powerful data integration capabilities are able to handle a large amount of data generated from multiple sources along with its centralized storage, processing and analysis.

Minimal Hardware Dependency: Presently, several IoT solutions offer plug-and-play hosting services that are enabled by integrating the cloud with the IoT. With cloud-enabled, IoT hosting providers need not rely on any kind of hardware or equipment to support the agility required by IoT devices. It has become easy for organizations to implement large scale IoT strategies seamlessly across platforms and move to omnichannel communication.

Business Continuity: Known for their agility and reliability, cloud computing solutions are able to provide business continuity in case of any emergency, data loss or disaster. Cloud services operate via a network of data servers located in multiple geographical locations storing multiple copies of data backup. In case of any emergency, IoT based operations continue to work and data recovery becomes easy.

Communication Between Multiple Devices & Touchpoint: IoT devices and services need to connect with each other and communicate to perform tasks that are enabled using cloud solutions. By supporting several robust APIs, cloud & IoT is able to interact amongst themselves and connected devices. Having a cloud supported communication helps fasten the interaction happen seamlessly.

Response Time & Data Processing: Edge computing combined with IoT solutions usually shortens response time and speeds up data processing capabilities. It requires the deployment of IoT with cloud computing and edge computing solutions for maximum utilization.

Though cloud computing services can accelerate the growth of IoT, there are certain challenges in deploying these services successfully. The combination of IoT and cloud presents a few obstacles that need to be handled beforehand.

The challenges the Cloud & IoT brings together includes:

Large Amount of Data: Processing a large amount of data can be tiring and overwhelming, especially with countless devices working at multiple touchpoints. This can threaten the overall performance of the application. Therefore, constant monitoring of the system and data backup is advised.

Network and Communication Protocol: Cloud and IoT devices involve multiple touchpoint communication using numerous protocols. Since it is an internet-dependent service, it is difficult to manage the change sometimes. Internet accessibility using wi-fi and mobile Internet can help resolve any challenges faced due to connectivity issues in such situations.

Sensor Network: Sensor network allows users to process and understand the IoT environment and amplifies the benefit of IoT. But, processing larger chunks of data regularly is a major challenge faced by these networks.

Integration of IoT and cloud computing solutions is the future of the internet and is currently solving several business obstacles along with opening new avenues in business & research. New applications and services are being developed at each step to resolve the existing challenges. Cloud and IoT have a long road to cover to unlock their true potential in the future.

The author is Amit Gupta, Founder and CEO, Rapyder Cloud Solutions