Successful IoT Projects: The Key Role of Automation

Source: https://www.efficientip.com/iot-automation/
The Internet of Things (IoT) is placing huge challenges on
network managers across all industries. With booming endpoint numbers and
generated traffic, device management and network efficiency become of paramount
importance. Just as IoT solutions begin to be deployed at scale, many organisations
face the impact of their partners’ migration projects, from traditional network
architectures to IP-based networks. To cope effectively, automation using
DNS-DHCP-IP Address Management (DDI) will become vital.
Scale
and IP transformation headaches
For categories including consumer, industrial and smart
cities, industry bodies such as IEEE now predict 75 billion IoT devices will be
deployed by 2025. That will entail millions of IoT projects, pushing
responsibility for the IP device, the network and ultimately the data onto
networking professionals to ensure delivery, management, access control,
security, and network optimisation. As a consequence, control and automation
systems will need to be adapted, to make sure the network teams don’t become
overwhelmed by manual tasks as millions of IoT devices come online. In
addition, companies will need to find ways of preventing inefficient use of
network resources, and also to preserve the security of the network itself.
Legacy deployments will add to this headache. Telcos across
the world are targeting PSTN migration to IP networks by 2025. As a
consequence, businesses such as utilities companies, needing to communicate
with remote equipment, are being forced to move to others communication
protocols for IoT devices. Among these protocols, IP remains fundamental
whenever bi-directional exchanges are required for active device monitoring. As
a result, systems to efficiently manage these IP addresses are needing to be
implemented.
Centralised
inventory – a platform for enhanced services
For any sizable IoT project, management at scale is vital.
Given the sheer number of devices that will require IP addresses,
considerations will include address assignment, management and configuration
automation. This can only be achieved via an intelligent, automated DDI
solution. DDI ensures appropriate network availability through optimised
capacity provision whether at peak traffic, variable or low demand. Smart DDI
solutions go beyond automation and assignment, by enabling policy driven
management. For example, in an IP-based street lighting roll-out as part of
smart city solution, the DNS naming convention can enable location of the
devices.
Companies caught up in IP transformation projects will
benefit greatly from DDI. Consider organisations who used to monitor remote
equipment status via PSTN, but are now obliged to access their equipment via IP
addresses. Due to the increased complexity, relying on their legacy management
solutions will no longer be an option for them. An innovative DDI solution not
only brings them easier, more agile control and access to the equipment, it
also a provides a central, complete inventory to help ensure conformity and
enable additional value-added services to be offered – examples include
improving maintenance processes, monitoring traffic, and ensuring high-availability
of the network.
There are added benefits for organisations moving from IPv4
to IPv6. Even prior to the emergence of the IoT, the shift to IPv6 was
accelerating. IPv6 provides the scale and scope for IoT projects to be global
whether internet based or run on enterprise networks. As a management function,
advanced IPAM solutions are able to organise IPv6 addresses into a database
using block types and naming policies. This IPv6 support prevents IT project
rollouts being delayed by address shortages faced by IPv4.
DDI provides management and visibility through efficient,
centrally managed, device-specific configuration profiles. Policy enforcement
of DNS service configuration is based on IPAM. Synchronised DNS-DHCP-IPAM,
combined with inventory tools, therefore becomes a foundation for IoT as it
enables sharing IP address information with other components of the network.
IoT
device data – bringing you new revenues
Manual efforts at address management simply won’t scale to
cope with IoT. Efforts which today are dogged by errors, duplication and
security risks will be amplified in IoT projects. DDI automation and
policy-enforced provisioning/de-provisioning accelerates time to market for IoT
projects. It eliminates configuration errors, and enhances security. Global
visibility across all networks from a single pane of glass helps control and
management, and is the first point of detection for security breaches.
IoT is great for providing info and data – but the real value comes from how the data is used. Automated DDI helps companies use big data and analytics on IoT device information to optimise their operations and introduce new revenue-generating services. Who wouldn’t want that?
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