These comprehensive security ecosystems based on machine learning and behavioral analytics are able to detect early indicators of network infiltration. Additionally, 24/7 security monitoring by a team of experts can accelerate the processes needed to identify attackers, watch for lateral moves, and mitigate threats before they cause extensive damage.

Accommodate bandwidth needs
through SD-WAN

Ensuring a network can adequately support the advanced needs of IoT is critical, particularly as global markets become increasingly competitive. An increase in data driven by more connected devices will require more bandwidth on the network to enable the sharing, transport and storage of that data. Therefore, in the new IoT management arena, enterprises will demand a way to monitor and control the amount of bandwidth their system needs, and flex accordingly. A robust managed SD-WAN service is well-suited to serve these needs.

The implications of establishing a robust and secure network serve more than just the system’s functions. Fifty-three percent of enterprises expect IoT data to assist in increasing revenues in the next year. The data is showing increasingly clear signs that the necessity to and ultimate advantages of investing in a managed software-defined network are clear.

Practices in action: How Teknion became an IoT disruptor

Using global cloud and IoT strategies, the high-end workplace furniture manufacturer Teknion shifted to a new analytics-based business model. With a secure software-defined platform, the company established industrial IoT capabilities to collect massive amounts of data from its equipment and applied advanced analytics to enhance its understanding of the larger system. The project resulted in dashboards that help leadership make real-time decisions about usage and repair scheduling. Along with the network’s ability to create an unlimited number of virtual environments where R&D teams can safely test and improve the latest technologies, these insights are part of Teknion’s innovation incubator.

This optimized IoT environment resulted in a more agile IT infrastructure that helped accelerate cloud migration and empowered a sophisticated overall strategy. It also simplified Teknion’s IT complexity with a global software-defined network platform that enhanced network efficiency with on-demand bandwidth and deep analytics. Most importantly, the use of a software-defined network reduced the equipment Teknion needed to manage its expansive network, thereby also reducing maintenance and support costs.

What’s ahead for IoT

IoT is still on the rise, but its effect across consumer and commercial fronts has already made a significant impact. Through the numerous and diverse uses for IoT, tomorrow’s savvy enterprises will benefit from monitoring and analytics capabilities never before possible. Perhaps some of the most exciting areas of potential in this technological growth area are the practicalities of application and implementation that can assist enterprises in functioning at a higher capacity.

And yet, IoT is not simply a plug-and-play endeavor. It will still require augmentation from robust and time-tested network management technologies like software-defined networking and SD-WAN to make it all happen effectively.

With these technology forces working together, IoT will usher in a new era for enterprise technology that will change the way we store, manage and protect data, as well as challenge us to rethink the way we view the cloud, network security, and big data.