DevOps Security: It’s Everyone’s Responsibility Now

DevOps is intended to dramatically increase the pace of application development and support. This is expected to allow more mistakes to get through to production environments, but that’s OK because they can be corrected right away rather than have to wait for the next development cycle to play out.

But this can be dangerous when it comes to security. Most vulnerabilities, after all, are not evident until they are exploited, and even those that are caught right away can still leave apps and data vulnerable for hours, or even days.

This is why DevOps requires a new approach to security – one that calls for a renewed commitment by all team members to place protection of data and apps as a core element to their contributions to the overall project.

According to automation firm Sonatype, organizations with mature DevOps practices were more than three times as likely to integrate automated security functions into their workflows than organizations that do not employ DevOps. This is particularly important for groups using open source components, which have seen a 55 percent increase in breaches in the past year alone. As well, 88 percent of mature DevOps programs are making investments into application security training, although nearly half of developers recognize the importance of security but find it too time-consuming to implement on a regular basis.

More details: https://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/infrastructure/devops-security-its-everyones-responsibility-now.html

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Lack of budget, skills impedes big data analytics

What are the main barriers to the adoption of big data by local firms? 

 

Lack of in-house skills and adequate tools to address data quality issues are some of the main barriers to the adoption of big data by local organisations.
This is according to a recent online Big Data Survey conducted by ITWeb. The survey found that most organisations are good at collecting and storing data, but few have the skills and the tools needed to extract, analyse and use data to create lasting value for the business.

Complexity of technologies (16%), legacy systems (14%) and cost of investment (15%) were cited as other barriers to the adoption of big data.
Around 14% of respondents said they do not have a data strategy in place. Of those who said they do have one, 46% admitted that it was not comprehensive.
Experts point out that despite the benefits of having a comprehensive data strategy; few organisations have actually developed a structured plan to improve the access, sharing, and usage of their data. Most firms have comprehensive plans for applications, development tools, platforms, and even storage, but there are few initiatives that ensure that data is managed as a business asset.
A comprehensive enterprise data strategy leverages a variety of data to support the company's overall business strategy.

With more companies understanding the importance of big data as a useful source for gaining insights, the survey revealed big data analysis (49%) saw the highest growth in demand over the last year, with big data storage (41%) ranking in second and internal big data collection (40%) in third place.
The results were evenly split when the respondents were asked what they see as the main benefits of big data analysis, with 14% citing reduced risk, and another 14% choosing more efficient operations.
Mervin Miemoukanda, senior research analyst for software, IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, believes while more local organisations are realising the potential of big data and analytics, they are still grappling with some challenges.
"This rising awareness of big data and analytics will accelerate the adoption of these technologies across all verticals in the coming years. However, limited IT budgets and the dearth of skilled resources impede big data and analytics initiatives across organisations in the country.
"Organisations in SA can consider internally developing skills by sharing resources, undertaking training programmes, and partnering with vendors. Indeed, it will be crucial for firms to establish a data-driven culture and encourage knowledge sharing to develop internal capabilities."
Furthermore, big data collection (52%) emerged as the most in-demand component of big data, with big data storage (46%) ranking in second place and big data analysis (44%) in third.
Transactions data 66%, social media data (42%), and locational/geospatial data (38%) were the three most popular types of data being considered for big data technologies.

Big data initiatives

When asked if they have any big data initiatives in progress or in planning, 23% said they had no initiatives underway. Of those who said yes, 37% said their initiatives were in progress and 31% said they were in planning phase.
A well-designed big data initiative can help an organisation accrue many benefits, such as understanding customer needs, and getting actionable intelligence on how to react effectively to changing market conditions.
In terms of the data domains that their organisation is mostly focused on for their big data initiatives, 62% said they were more focused on customer transactions, 57% cited product and data, while 49% use market and competitive data for their initiatives.

About the survey

The 2018 Big Data Survey was run online on ITWeb for a period of two weeks to examine how local organisations are using big data to gain business value.

Who responded

A total of 203 responses were received. About one thirds of respondents operate in the IT sector, while the rest work in a range of private and public sector organisations, from SMEs to global corporations.

Source: https://www.itweb.co.za/content/o1Jr5MxEAx6qKdWL

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10 Charts That Will Challenge Your Perspective Of IoT's Growth

• By 2020, Discrete Manufacturing, Transportation & Logistics and Utilities industries are projected to spend $40B each on IoT platforms, systems, and services.
• McKinsey predicts the IoT market will be worth $581B for ICT-based spend alone by 2020, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) between 7 and 15%.
• Industrial products lead all industries in IoT adoption at 45% with an additional 22% planning to adopt IoT in the next 12 months according to a recent Forrester survey.
• The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market is predicted to reach $123B in 2021, attaining a CAGR of 7.3% through 2020.
• Harley Davidson reduced its build-to-order cycle by a factor of 36 and grew overall profitability by 3% to 4% by shifting production to a fully IoT-enabled plant according to Capgemini.

Realizing the Internet of Thing’s (IoT) potential to reduce costs and enable new business models needs to start with a platform perspective that includes app development and integration. IoT is one of the most-researched emerging markets globally, with a specific focus on how Cloud Services and APIs will enable a faster proliferation of applications and the marketplaces that offer them. APIs will enable IoT projects to succeed faster and with greater accuracy by enabling more real-time integration points between systems. High-speed wireless networks are a key growth catalyst for IoT, which is why Samsung, Qualcomm, LG, Huawei, and Intel all are vying to establish product leadership with patents. These top five patent holders together control over 13,300 IoT patents today. The following ten charts provide insights into IoT’s explosive growth:

• By 2020, Discrete Manufacturing, Transportation & Logistics and Utilities industries are projected to spend $40B each on IoT platforms, systems, and services. Globally B2C Commerce is projected to invest $25B in IoT systems, software, and platforms within two years. Healthcare and Process industries are projected to invest $15B each in IoT. The following graphic compares the projected growth in spending by vertical globally, from 2015 to 2020. Source: Statista.

Source: Statista.

• Smart Cities (23%), Connected Industry (17%) and Connected Buildings (12%) are the top three IoT projects in progress. IoT Analytics found that nearly half of the Smart City projects (45%) are in Europe, while the Americas lead in the area of Connected Health, with 55% of global projects today. The Americas are leading the world in Connected Car IoT projects as well, with 54% of them worldwide. Look for increased R&D spending as healthcare providers, and auto manufacturers attempt to establish patent and intellectual property (IP) leadership in these fast-growing markets. Source: IoT Analytics, The Top 10 IoT Segments in 2018 – based on 1,600 real IoT projects.

Source: IoT Analytics, The Top 10 IoT Segments in 2018 – based on 1,600 real IoT projects.

• McKinsey predicts the IoT market will be worth $581B for ICT-based spend alone, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) between 7 and 15%. Software infrastructure and applications will be 37% of overall IoT spend by 2020, with Solutions Services a close second with 30% of global spending. This slide is from an excellent presentation given at the Hong Kong IoT Conference, which is a fascinating read. Source: Internet of Things The IoT opportunity – Are you ready to capture a once-in-a-lifetime value pool? (PDF, 23 pp., no opt-in).

Source: Internet of Things The IoT opportunity – Are you ready to capture a once-in-a-lifetime value pool? (PDF, 23 pp., no opt-in).

• The North American IoT consumer electronics market is predicted to increase from $90B in 2017 to $180B in 2022, attaining a CAGR of 12.25%. IoT spending for Transportation-related IoT application is predicted to increase from $75B in 2017 to $140B in 2022, attaining a 10.9% CAGR. Source: Statista. 

Source: Statista.

• The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) market is predicted to reach $123B in 2021, attaining a CAGR of 7.3% through 2020. Accenture forecasts IIoT can add as much as $14.2T to the global economy by 2030. Source: The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT): the business guide to Industrial IoT.

Source: The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT): the business guide to Industrial IoT.

• GE found that Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) applications are relied on by 64% power and energy (utilities) companies to succeed with their digital transformation initiatives. Overall, 58% of all manufacturers interviewed say IIoT is essential for attaining greater digital transformation. Source: GE Digital Industrial Evolution Index Executive Summary, October 2017 (PDF, 67 pp., no opt-in).

Source: GE Digital Industrial Evolution Index Executive Summary, October 2017 (PDF, 67 pp., no opt-in).

• 12.86 billion IoT sensors and devices will be in use in the consumer segment by 2020, growing at a 34.89% CAGR per year from 2017. Vertical-specific sensors and devices are projected to grow from 1.64B units in 2017 to 3.17B in 2020, attaining a 24.57% CAGR in just three years., Source: Statista.

Source: Statista.

• Samsung, Qualcomm, LG, Huawei, and Intel are the top five patent holders in the IoT industry today, together controlling over 13,300 patents. Samsung has been granted the greatest number of patents (820) as of the date of the analysis below, followed by LG (524), and Huawei (490). An analysis of patent filings shows that discrete manufacturing, transportation and logistics and utilities are the three dominant industries patents are focused The second graphic provides a graphical overview of patent-producing companies by the markets they compete in and in some cases lead today. Source: Relecura IP Intelligence Report, Internet of Things – Technology Landscape and IP Commercialization Trends (PDF, 44 pp., no opt-in).

Source: Relecura IP Intelligence Report, Internet of Things – Technology Landscape and IP Commercialization Trends (PDF, 44 pp.,m no opt-in).

• Microsoft Azure IoT Suite is the most favored platform by developers for enabling connected devices in their software projects. 29% of developers favor Microsoft’s Azure IoT Suite as the platform for their IoT projects, with Google Cloud IT second (24%), and Amazon AWS IoT third (19%). AWS was more popular with respondents from smaller organizations (28% versus  9%). Googe’s Cloud IoT is being adopted more by employees in larger companies (37% vs. 15%). Source:  Cowen Software Developer Survey, Getting In On The Ground Floor: Surveying Software Developers On Key Tech Trends, September 18, 2017 (client access required).

Source: Cowen Software Developer Survey, Getting In On The Ground Floor: Surveying Software Developers On Key Tech Trends, September 18, 2017 (client access required).

• Chinese enterprises are most often adopting IoT to increase competitiveness (23%) while American companies are focused on reducing costs (19%). An Ovum study found that China is the global leader in adopting IoT to enable their industries and enterprises to be more competitive. Malaysian enterprises’ top property is to improve business processes (21%). The following graphic provides an analysis of goals by country and top IoT adoption drivers. Source: Ovum IoT Survey Results Infographic.

Source: Ovum IoT Survey Results Infographic.

Data sources on the Internet of Things (IoT) market:
Bain, How Telcos Can Win The Internet of Things Infographic, 2017
Big Data for IoT: Analytics from Descriptive to Predictive to Prescriptive Keynote, November 4, 2017 (PDF, 84 pp., no opt-in)
E&Y, Internet of Things Human-machine interactions that unlock possibilities Media & Entertainment, (PDF, 24 pp., no opt-in)
Forbes, Where IoT Can Deliver The Most Value In 2018, March 18, 2018
Forrester, Internet-Of-Things Heat Map 2018; Prioritize IoT Use Cases Based On Value To Your Company Operations. April 23, 2018 (client accessed required)
Forrester, Leverage Cloud-Native IoT Software Platform To Accelerate Digital Transformation, October 2017 (PDF, 24 pp., no opt-in)
Gartner, Leading the IoT, 2017 (PDF, 17 pp., no opt-in)
Gartner, Top 10 IoT Technologies for Digital Business in 2018 and 2019, September 12, 2017  (PDF, 17 pp., client access required)
IDC FutureScape: Worldwide IoT 2018 Predictions, November 2, 2017 (PDF, 16 pp., no opt-in)
GE Digital Industrial Evolution Index Executive Summary, October 2017 (PDF, 67 pp., no opt-in)
IDC, MarketScape: Worldwide IoT Platforms (Software Vendors) 2017 Vendor Assessment, July 2017 (PDF, 28 pp., no opt-in)
IDC, Transforming Manufacturing with the Internet of Things, May 2015 (PDF, 5 pp., no opt-in)
McKinsey & Company, Internet of Things The IoT opportunity – Are you ready to capture a once-in-a-lifetime value pool? (PDF, 23 pp., no opt-in).
IoT Analytics, Industrial Analytics Report 2016/17 (opt-in)
IoT Analytics, The Top 10 IoT Segments in 2018 – based on 1,600 real IoT projects.
Intel & Cisco Relationship Presentation (21 pp., PDF, no opt-in)
Verizon, State of the Market: Internet of Things, 2017 Report (PDF, 16 pp., no opt-in)
World Economic Forum, The Next Economic Growth Engine: Scaling Fourth Industrial Revolution Technologies in Production (PDF, 33 pp., no opt-in)

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2018/06/06/10-charts-that-will-challenge-your-perspective-of-iots-growth/#6c0e4bda3ecc

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The 6 ways to make money in IoT

Connect your things, solve problems, make money. Learn how you can deliver recurring, continuous value with these six IoT business models.

According to the McKinsey Global Institute, IoT will have a total potential impact of up to $11.1 trillion a year by 2025. With so much opportunity, it makes sense why so many companies are looking to connect their devices and enter the IoT arena.

But simply adding an internet connection to your widget doesn’t mean your business will make immediate profits. IoT products come with significant ongoing costs – web infrastructure, networking, and other connectivity and data-related costs. If you can’t justify the additional value to your customers, those costs will eat away at your margins.

The most successful IoT products are those that deliver recurring, continuous value for your customers (and recurring revenue for you). While there are a lot of ways that companies can create value through connected products, we’ve found that there are six different primary ways companies make money off of their IoT products 

1. Tracking your assets

Moving assets from one place to another is still a pretty manual process, which creates a lot of inefficiencies. Products get lost, or “fall off the back of the truck” – stolen and sold on the black market. Rented equipment – from cars to construction equipment – are stolen. Stores are either carrying too much inventory of the products they sell or they’re constantly out of stock. These inefficiencies all have the same source: imperfect information about where things are and how they’re being used.

According to Business Insider, IoT technologies are expected to have a $1.9 trillion impact on the logistics and supply chain management industries. That’s because IoT technologies like asset tracking allow companies to monitor their logistic operations more accurately, which also helps them make better decisions and save money. For instance – if you oversee a fleet of trucks, how do you know if your drivers are deviating from their routes or are behind schedule? If your trucks/containers/packages are being tracked, you can identify potential problems quickly and solve them before they become bigger issues, saving money along the way.
2. Preventing machine failures and maintenance issues

Things break. When they break, problems happen. If you can avoid maintenance issues, you can avoid the problems that result from those failures – and that saves money. In fact, industry experts report that preventative maintenance can provide up to 545% ROI for businesses.

For example: Alert Labs uses smart water sensors that help customers detect leaks and provide insight into water consumptions. Consumers can place these sensors underneath water heaters or other appliances that are prone to leaking, which helps them protect their homes from machines failures and can curtail maintenance issues before they become bigger problems. With continuous monitoring, Alert Labs provides constant protection for the customer, which also helps them make money through their monthly monitoring plans.
3. Reduce the overhead of staying compliant

According to the Manufacturing Institute, American manufacturers spend an estimated $192 billion on regulatory compliance. That’s because almost every industry, in some capacity, requires a field agent to physically inspect equipment to ensure compliance. However, one of the easiest ways to create value through IoT is to replace those inspections with internet-connected sensors.

Take Canary Compliance, who uses IoT hardware to monitor fuel volumes in storage tanks underneath gas stations. Their remote monitoring system allows enterprises to provide real-time inventory feeds to haulers and up-to-the-minute inventory reports on demand. While keeping track of fuel levels seems like an easy task, uncontrollable elements like storage leakage and extreme weather conditions make it difficult for gas station owners to keep perfect records. Small business owners who own gas stations can often face large fines if their storage fuel levels and records don’t match. IoT systems that constantly keep track of fuel add another failsafe for business owners, and in turn, can save them lots of money.
4. Fulfilling consumables

Many products have a consumable element – fuel, oil, filters, etc. It’s common for the consumable to be a big money-maker for the company (like razors and razor blades, where the razors are sold as a loss-leader to get a revenue stream of razor blade sales). However, what if your products could automatically order their consumables when they’re needed?

Automatic fulfillment of consumables improves conversion, locks in recurring sales, and makes it easier to forecast demand. At the same time, your customers benefit from reduced downtime (i.e. the consumable is out of stock) and a better experience with the product.

Saltco offers a perfect example of this with their salt level sensors. Some homeowners need salt plumbed into their water supply system to get rid of calcium and magnesium buildup. Although, buying salt is not a onetime purchase; customers constantly need to monitor their salt levels, so their pipes aren’t damaged or clogged. Saltco’s sensors automatically notify delivery specialists when the salt levels get too low, which means homeowners don’t have to worry about it. Not only does this model help generate ongoing salt sales, but it also helps Saltco better understand how their customers consume salt to make better business decisions.
5. Managing the environment

Today, the vast majority of cities aren’t equipped to handle the environmental damage that can occur from earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods. For instance, the CBO estimates that hurricane damage cost $28 billion a year alone. However, companies like Opti have developed ways to combat inadequate infrastructure with IoT solutions that deliver recurring, continuous value to the cities they power.

Opti’s CMAC (continuous monitoring and adaptive control) drainage system monitors weather forecasts and controls drainage valves to minimize flooding and environmentally hazardous run-off. By installing these CMAC systems around cities, Opti saves the city money by protecting valuable infrastructure. They also deliver value to their customers every time a storm hits – year after year.
6. Upselling a premium product

If you make widgets, the simplest way to create value through IoT is to make a high-end “connected” or “smart” widget and sell it at a premium. But despite its simplicity, this business model is most likely to fail because it assumes that your customers are willing to pay more for a smart widget than a dumb widget – and that is not always the case.

The difference between successful and unsuccessful “smart” products is simple: the successful ones solve real problems. We don’t need smart hairbrushes or smart basketballs. But don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater; there are some real problems out there worth solving.

Take, for instance, “smart” thermostats like Nest and Ecobee. While these thermostats make our lives a bit better by making us more comfortable, their real value is in energy efficiency. HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems are the #1 consumer of energy in the home, so anything that reduces the amount of heating and air conditioning saves real money. While a smart thermostat is more expensive than a traditional thermostat, they are typically a one-time purchase that continues to deliver value (energy efficiency) for years. The manufacturers may also create value in other ways, such as, working with utilities to create demand response programs.

Many companies entering IoT do so technology-first. They start by imagining the connected product, and work backwards to the value proposition. And their products end up in the IoT graveyard – either because they don’t get to market or because they’re not successful when they do get to market.

In contrast, the best IoT companies start by saying: what problems do my customers have and what problems do I experience in my day-to-day business, and how might a connected product help solve those problems?

Source: https://www.networkworld.com/article/3279346/internet-of-things/the-6-ways-to-make-money-in-iot.html

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