Internet of Everything from Enterprise Project Management Point View - Case Study Example

Internet of Everything from Enterprise project management point view Name Institution Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 List of Acronyms 3 Definitions 4 Introduction and history 4 Main components of IoE 6 Market analysis 8 Pros and cons 8 Comparison and evaluation UAE vs. International level 9 Trends and future perspectives, recommendations and conclusion 10 References 11 Figure 1: Historical timeline of internet of things (Cisco, 2014) 6 Figure 2: IoE Components (Evans, 2014). 6 List of Acronyms Acronyms Full Name ERP Enterprise resource planning IoE Interne of Everything LAN Local area network M2M Machine-to-person P2P person-to-person UAE United Arab Emirates WAN Wide area network WWW World Wide Web Definitions According to Evans (2014), Internet of Everything (IoE) is a networked connection of individuals, data, processes and things. Cisco (2013) defines it as the process or means of bringing people, processes, information, and things together to construct networked connections pertinent and valuable before transforming the information into actions that create new capabilities and economic opportunities for businesses. Based on the definition, it is clear that IoE may stake out the path for Enterprise resource planning (ERP). In particular, this is since the bottom-line values expected from IoE include improvement in supply chain management, employee productivity, asset management and utilisation, customer experience and innovation. According to Muscatello et al (2003), ERP refers to business software, or simply a suite of integrated applications a business can leverage to collect, manage, store, classify, interpret and process data from many other business activities. These set of integrated applications, according to Nah and Delgado (2006), comprises a set of mature business applications and tools for sales and distribution, human resources, supply chain management, service delivery and product planning. Introduction and history In almost all industries, such as the retail industry, accelerating innovation curves means restructuring the retail landscape. Within this context, obstacles to market entry are lessening (Cisco, 2014). Additionally, customers get to demand new means of interacting while the margins become compressed. In the modern-day world, this is known for having technology-driven parity in addition to the fleeting competitive advantages prompting the question on where the next wave of value for enterprise project management will come from. According to recent global study by Cisco (2014), professed value from ERP will be driven by the Internet of Everything (IoE). Indeed, Cisco’s (2014) study makes claims that some $14.4 trillion of net profits is poised to be at stake for enterprises globally in the next decade, depending on their capacity to harness Internet of Everything. Internet of Things (IoT) has transformed from just being an interesting concept into a complex network of machines and devices, and as more and more things become connected to the internet, the stakes have grown potentially greater. Cisco (2013) derives the term Internet of Everything from the concept of Internet of Things in 2013 after realisation that broadband had become a critical enabler of improved economic growth, service delivery and social inclusion, as well as potential to create greater economic opportunities. At the time, some 12.1 billion things connected to the Internet were in use. Hence, the perception that ‘virtually everything’ could be connected (Figure 1). To this end, the augmented ability of the Internet to connect greater numbers of actuators and sensors to things on the internet, to analyse and access date and to use the data led to the coining of the term (Cisco, 2013). Figure 1: Historical timeline of internet of things (Cisco, 2014) Main components of IoE IoE is a novel paradigm, that like IoT, Atzori et al (2010) observation has rapidly gained ground in the contemporary scene of modern wireless telecommunications. The basic idea of the IOE concept is the pervasiveness of its presence around a variety of components. According to Cisco (2014), IoR is a combination of processes, data, people, and things to make networked connections increasingly pertinent and valuable. Hence, the key components include processes, data, people, and things. Figure 2: IoE Components (Evans, 2014). People are the components that connect and use the internet in various ways using smartphones, tablets, PCs and TVs or the social media. In regards to data, the devices gather data, which is later streamed over the internet to a central source for analysis and processing. Transformation of data into information in Internet of Everything is significant since it allows people to make faster and intelligent information. Things make up the physical items such as sensors, mobiles phones, devices, such as mobile phones, Local areas network (LAN), cloud, router, and wide area network (WAN). Sensors measure and detect a physical property, which is later converted into a form of electronic representation (Atzori et al 2010). The sensors connect to the devices through digital and analogue converter. Devices provide intelligence required to work constructively with the data provided through the attached sensors. Local area network (LAN) consists of network type protocols for connecting devices together within a small geographical area. Wide area network (WAN) is essentially the internet. It consists of network fabric that facilitates communication between things or devices over the public network infrastructure known as the World Wide Web (WWW). The process plays a significant role on how the things, data, and people work with others to deliver values within the interconnected world of Internet of Things. The proper processes allow the connections to become pertinent and to add value since the right information is transmitted to the right person at the right time in the right quantity (Kranenburg et al, 2011). Market analysis According to Cisco (2013), the retail industry accounts for some 11 percent of the overall Internet of Everything over the next decade, compared to the manufacturing industry. Cisco's study also shows that the value brought to business in terms of improving ERP rose to $613 billion in 2013. However, companies have failed to approximately 47 percent of their prospective Value at Stake. Indeed, Cisco study carried out in 2013 showed that retail businesses ranked last in 2013 in regards to the potential value accrued from IoE in the year 2013. This implies that the retail enterprises stand to gain significantly, as well as to loss terribly in regards to attaining potential value from IoE. To conclude therefore, successfully capturing the benefits depends significantly on retailers' capacity to use technology to improve people and processes (Cisco, 2014). Pros and cons The IoE presents unprecedented opportunities and risks to the ERP. In fact, the answer lie within the function or the power of the networks created, or the ‘network effect,” which is based on the “Metcalfe’s law,” which suggests that the value or risk of network rises with the increased number of users (Cisco, 2013). The IoE improved business value and profit delivery. For instance, it has transformed businesses by increasing their Machine-to-person (M2P) capabilities, where enterprises can now use video and mobile analytics to monitor in-store customer behaviour to improve customer service and marketing strategies. Secondly, it has improved the business value through person-to-person (P2P) connections (Cisco, 2013). For instance, enterprises can today provide on-demand sales advice, offer video collaboration, and improve expert sales staff. They can also use remote-expert solutions to retail specialised commodities (Evans, 2014). Still, IoE may also bring greater level of security risks to the ERP. With increased number of integrated applications, such as computers and data, connected to the internet, the risks of cybercrime activities, such as hacking become more solid. Comparison and evaluation UAE vs. International level The IoE is expected to trigger United Arab Emirates (UAE) telecommunication market to $35.01 billion in 2019, from the current figure of $10.02 billion in 2014 at a compound annual rate of 28.4 percent (MicroMarketMonitor 2014). Globally, it is expected to create economic value of around $19 trillion over the next decade. Like other part of the world, such as the United States, IoE would primarily drive virtually all sectors in the industry, including retail, manufacturing, service, healthcare and energy. According to MicroMarketMonitor (2014), as in the United States or United Kingdom, the requirement for broadband services in UAE is increasingly facilitated by IoE platforms, such as social media, cloud and mobile devices to enable businesses to perform ERP tasks, such as customer management, human resource management and supply chain management. The technologies connect to the internet to drive consumer behaviour and intelligence of the industry. Still, compared to more developed economies, such as the United States, the cloud services, devices and ERP software that can be integrated to the internet are more expensive. Additionally, the skills to run the technology also lack (MicroMarketMonitor, 2014). Trends and future perspectives, recommendations and conclusion Cisco (2013) estimates that some 50 billion objects or things will be connected to the internet by 2020, triggering a new world economy. While the competitive dynamics of businesses will be transforming through improved ERP, customers and shareholders will also experience network effects on their lives. For instance, social media will present a new form or ERP where companies communicate to customers by providing product information virtually over the internet (Wam, 2014). Still, the exponential power of IoE will create greater risks to business privacy and data security. Hence, many technical challenges will have to be addressed by hiring security professions to secure network protocols, data analytics, and data storage. Business that must go with the trends will also need to invest in higher quality and secure devices that can be integrated to the internet. Still, the challenges are complex that would need greater cooperation and strategic approaches by industry regulators, standards bodies, citizens and even the businesses. To conclude, business needs to engage in strategic action planning to fit in the future. Businesses need to make use of the complementary insights of information technology (IT) industry. They also need to identify the major IoE opportunities, and how to harness them. Businesses should also network with other organisations to accrue the advantages of the IoE platforms. Lastly, businesses need to initiate ‘IoE culture’, by assisting the employees to connect intelligently with focus on improving ERP experience. References Atzori, L., Iera, A. & Morabito, G. (2010). The Internet of Things: A survey. Computer Networks 54, 2787–2805 Cisco. (2013). IoE Provides Retailers with Many Benefits, Including Analytics-Driven Improvements in Customer Experience. Retrieved: Cisco (2014). Internet of Everything (IoE). Economic Analysis Retrieved: Evans, D. (2014). The Internet of Everything: How More Relevant and Valuable Connections Will Change the World. Retrieved: Kranenburg, R., Anzelmo, E.& Bassi, A. (2011). The Internet of Things. Paper Prepared for the 1st Berlin Symposium on Internet and Society October 25-27, 2011 MicroMarketMonitor (2014). Middle East and Africa - UAE Internet-of-Things (IoT) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communication Market. Retrieved: Muscatello, J., Small, M. & Chen, I. (2003). "Implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in small and midsize manufacturing firms." International Journal of Operations & Production Management 23(8), 850-871 Nah, F. & Delgado, S. (2006). "Critical Success Factors For Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation and Upgrade." Journal of Computer Information Systems pp.99-113 Wam (2014). 'Internet of Things' World Forum in Dubai. Retrieved: Read More