Nov 18

The Industrial Internet of Things: When the Party is Over

By Joe Barkai Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Augmented / Virtual Reality, Internet of Things (IoT), Manufacturing, Mergers & Acquisitions No Comments

IoT Industry Snapshot and Predictions

The industrial Internet of Things community is finally beginning to sober up from the bacchanalia of counting connected IoT devices and terabytes of cloud data storage that has dominated the IoT narrative for too long.

IoT platform vendors and consultants are shifting their focus from the lower rung of the IoT technology stack that focuses on device connectivity to the other end of the stack, to technologies that provide meaningful business value: multidisciplinary data aggregation, complex data analytics and higher capacity for optimal decision-making.

Robust articulation of the business value of industrial IoT has been absent from much of the narrative, in the vein of “if you build it, they will come.” Many IoT platform vendors provide tools to draw snazzy dashboards, plot complex data graphs and display virtual gauges. But their data analytics tools are not as robust and trending and predictive capabilities are over optimistic. And the recent rush to add statistical analysis tools (often linear regression tools masqueraded as artificial intelligence and machine learning) will face real-world challenges of data biases, inconsistency and scale. Read More

Sep 25

The Car of the Future: Electrified, Connected and Autonomous

By Joe Barkai Automotive, Autonomous, Connected, Electric, Shared Vehicles No Comments

The Impact of Vehicle Electrification and Connectivity on Electrical System Design

Industry in Flux

Just over 100 years ago, Henry Ford disrupted the auto industry of the time with the introduction of the mass-production moving assembly line. To say that the auto industry is again in flux is almost cliché.

The confluence of technology and business trends in play is having a profound effect on the future of the mobility industry.

Electrification

Electric propulsion is still in its infancy. Today, less than 5% of vehicles sold in the US use electric propulsion. But consumers recognize the impact of EVs on the environmental. With the introduction of EVs with greater travel range and more affordable purchase price, adoption will accelerate. A survey from AAA shows that 20% of drivers want an electric vehicle and will likely choose an EV for their next vehicle, up from 15% percent in 2017.

Autonomous Driving

The race to achieve fully automated driving is heating up rapidly. Despite many uncertainties concerning technology maturity, regulatory requirements, and market adoption, practically all automakers and major suppliers, as well as scores of small upstart companies, want to take part in this race.

The hope to capitalize on the early waves of commercialization and consumer adoption, and the accompanying boost to the brand lead to an increase of 33% over 5 years in R&D in the automotive sector.

Connectivity

Today’s consumers demand connectivity, sophisticated mobile apps and rich online content. An Autotrader study shows that connectivity has become a major factor in car buying decision, and that 48% of car buyers prioritize in-vehicle technology over brand or body style.

OEMs are now shifting in this direction, adding connectivity and in-vehicle features across their portfolio, including non-premium brands in an effort to better align their offering with the changing market demand, especially of millennial consumers. Read More

Aug 08

Triple Self Portrait (Norman Rockwell, 1960)

Digital Twins: Is More Better?

By Joe Barkai Internet of Things (IoT), IT Strategy, PLM 2 Comments

The Digital Twin

A digital twin is a live digital representation of a physical asset. It is a cyber-physical mockup that represents both the physical instance and its broad business context in which it operates, from inception to end of life.

The digital twin acts on behalf of connected physical objects by receiving alerts and notifications, sending instructions and updates, and providing real-time information on their state and health to the owners, operators, and maintainers of these assets.

The digital twin is an integral part of the assets’ lifecycle activities. Beyond enabling remote connectivity and control flow, a digital twin must be able to curate a rich decision-making context of a broad spectrum of information and lifecycle activities such as configuration, service entitlement, and maintenance and upgrade history.

Can I Get One, Too?

Jul 28

The Treasure Trove (Anthonie Palamedesz)

SAP: How to Turn the Monkey on Your Back into an Asset

By Joe Barkai Business Strategy, IT Strategy No Comments

SAP’s Enterprise Legacy

Software giant SAP boasts a rich portfolio of monolithic ERP applications that cover a broad range of enterprise business processes and policies. Over nearly half a century of continued growth, both organically and through acquisitions, SAP has established a strong presence across industries and business functions, and forged strong relationships with corporate top brass, especially in the CIO and CFO organizations.

But emerging technologies and changing business strategies are challenging the “Big ERP” market of yore. Enterprise digitalization, cloud computing, and Internet of Things-based business solutions are changing the way enterprises build IT systems and consume services. Traditional monolithic on-premise enterprise software is being replaced by cloud-based connected applications and mobile user interfaces.

In the era of lean and agile cloud-based applications threatening to displace worn-out on-premise systems, SAP needs to exploit new technologies and support cloud-based architectures and emerging business constructs. And in the eyes of some, it still needs to shake off the image of a provider of old-architecture software and stodgy mainframe-style user interfaces. At the same time, SAP continues to support a very large installed base of more businesses and accompany them on the journey to adopt new technologies and business constructs.

This is a significant undertaking. Commenting on this, one SAP executive said: “our legacy is a great asset, but, at the same time, it can become a monkey on our back.”

How can SAP turn this monkey into a strategic asset? Read More

Jul 22

Alice Meets the Caterpillar (Sir John Tenniel, 1865)

Will The Rise In Computing Power Make Ubiquitous Artificial Intelligence A Reality?

By Joe Barkai Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning One Comment

Like the Internet of Things that shed its drab M2M image to become the centerpiece of the digital transformation of industrial enterprises, artificial intelligence is sprouting a new life from its 50-plus years old roots. (Yes, we’ve been doing AI, admittedly with limited success, since the late 1950s.)

Conversations about AI seem to follow a course similar to that of the IoT narrative. Initially, IoT pundits were obsessed with the ability to connect billions of “things” to the Internet. Not only did most of these predictions proved overly optimistic, but the connection between sheer connectivity and meaningful business outcomes was loose, at best.

Today’s IoT narrative shifted to focus on business outcomes enabled by the data generated by connected devices. Industry matured from counting conduits to measuring the value of their content. Read More