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By 2020, there will be 50 billion devices connected to the Internet. How will your company capitalize on this connected world? 

By connecting things, people, and business networks, the Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the way we live and conduct business. Experts predict that the economic impact of this revolution will exceed US $14.4 trillion and deliver advantages to all companies. New insight into business processes will lead to new products and services, innovative business models, cost savings, and greater growth.

At a high level, IoT is the ability for things that have embedded technologies to sense, communicate, interact, and collaborate with other things. IoT is creating a network of objects that enable the capture, analysis and delivery of “things” data. With a focus on the “things to outcome” part of the IoT journey, SAP can help your solutions capture the value of the IoT by connecting “things” to the enterprise, providing better and new insights into business processes, actions and outcomes.

The Internet of Things (IoT) brings with it new opportunities and benefits, it also brings with it, new technology architectural requirements. SAP’s IoT Foundation platform helps your business become part of the Connected World. This article is intended to introduce how SAP technology and solutions will help your business become “connected”.

What is the Internet of Things (IoT)?

Internet of Things definition: The vast network of devices connected to the Internet, including smart phones and tablets and almost anything with a sensor on it – cars, machines in production plants, jet engines, oil drills, wearable devices, and more. These “things” collect and exchange data.

IoT – and the machine-to-machine (M2M) technology behind it – are bringing a new visibility to nearly every industry. Imagine utilities and telcos that can predict and prevent service outages, airlines that can remotely monitor and optimize plane performance, and healthcare organizations that can base treatment on real-time genome analysis. The business possibilities are endless.

What is an IoT Platform?

Functionally, an Internet of Things (IoT) platform is the software that connects edge devices, access points, and data networks to other parts of the value chain. Most IoT platforms handle ongoing management tasks and data visualization, which allow users to automate their environment. You can think of IoT platforms as the middleware between the data collected at the edge, the user-facing application, and back office systems.

An IoT platform makes it possible to develop, deploy, and manage IoT and M2M applications. Automate processes and network connections, store and manage sensor data, connect and control your devices, and analyze your data.

SAP IoT Foundation


The IoT foundation bundle for SAP HANA provides a set of critical capabilities for IoT data management. Smart data streaming allows for data filtering, aggregation and correlation at scale. In combination with the IoT intelligent edge processing bundle, remote data synchronization guarantees data consistency between the edge database and the platform database. Dynamic tiering is the tool to manage multitier database storage according to the value of the data to lower cost in Big Data scenarios. SAP HANA Vora transforms Big Data analysis with an in-memory computing engine for Hadoop. Also included in the bundle is the IoT SIM management connector for SAP HANA, which allows cellular IoT device connectivity management with a user interface based on the SAP Fiori user experience (UX).

At the core of the SAP IoT Foundation is the SAP HANA Cloud Platform (HCP) or SAP HANA. SAP HANA Cloud Platform is an open platform-as-a-service that provides unique in-memory database and application services. It is the proven cloud platform that enables you to rapidly develop new applications or extend existing ones. SAP HANA is for on-premise deployment of SAP IoT Foundation.

IoT cloud solutions provide affordable access to high-speed data networks – to extend the reach and usability of your IoT applications. The cloud platform should also offer data storage, processing, analysis, and remote device management.

SAP HANA Cloud Platform



The SAP HANA Cloud Platform enables you to go from sensor to action with it's Internet of Things service. SAP HANA Cloud Platform, Internet of Things service provides the ability to quickly develop, deploy, and manage real-time IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) and remote data synch applications. With SAP HANA Cloud Platform, Internet of Things service, you can onboard and manage connected remote devices, get real-time predictive analysis to improve intelligence and decision-making at the edge of the network, and optimize business processes at the core of your business.

SAP HANA Cloud Platform for IoT applies the full power of SAP HANA, which is capable of processing large volumes of data at unprecedented speed in the cloud. With the combined services, applications, and functionalities available in HCP, you can improve visibility, insight, and value of your IoT applications. Deployment is faster and the risks are reduced.

Synchronize Remote Databases with a Single Cloud Database - A single cloud database may have hundreds of thousands of data collection and action endpoints that operate in the real-world over sometimes unreliable networks. SAP HANA Cloud Platform, remote data sync service provides a way to connect all of these remote applications together.

SAP HANA IoT Services



Internet of Things services enable customers and partners to develop, customize and operate IoT business applications in the cloud.

Internet of Things services provide interfaces for registering devices and their specific data types, sending data to a database running on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform in a secure and efficient manner, and storing and providing access to the data stored. The respective services are distributed across two main components: Remote Device Management Service (RDMS) and Message Management Service (MMS). Moreover, there is a graphical user interface called Internet of Things Services cockpit, which provides access to the various services. The figure provides an overview of the architecture.

The Message Management Service (MMS) provides various APIs that can be used by devices to send data to Internet of Things services. It processes the data and persists the data in the databases connected. There may be other use cases, though, which require forwarding the data to a message broker, event stream processor or even a document repository.

The Internet of Things Services cockpit is the main interface for users to interact with the Remote Device Management Service (RDMS). You can use it to register new devices, to define the schema of messages (device types and message types) they can send and receive, as well as to establish the trust relationship needed by devices to interact with the Message Management Service (MMS). The Internet of Things Services cockpit and RDMS are provided as cloud services and can be used with subscriptions.

SAP Dynamic Edge Processing
 


Because only about 15% of edge data needs to be analyzed in data centers, and the rest can be processed at the edge. SAP Dynamic Edge Processing simplifies and accelerates edge computing – so you can analyze and take intelligent business action immediately, where it’s needed most.

SAP Dynamic Edge Processing supports a secure, managed platform to bridge physical "things" with the business world. It enriches real-time IoT decision making with business context at the intelligent edge, and optimizes operations by making edge assets and workers operate more efficiently. In addition, it filters the most critical data that should be transferred to the core IoT system while handling other data locally where it originates. SAP Dynamic Edge Processing combines algorithms, syncing architecture and optimized database technology with features for device connectivity and onboarding, offline operation, data reduction, local application platforms, immediate response and local storage.

SAP Dynamic Edge processing combines algorithms, syncing architecture, and customized database technology to allow businesses to process much of their IoT data locally, where it’s created and needing to be consumed, with syncing and central transmission occurring more securely, efficiently, and opportunistically. This reduces the amount of sensor data that has to be transmitted (and thus, the cost associated with data transmission) and allows for scenarios where data and insight is where you need it, when you need it.

With SAP Dynamic Edge Processing you can:

  • Manage and secure your edge data: Manage and monitor your edge devices and IoT sensors, secure all data transmissions, and control and automate actions and things.

  • Extend your digital core: Extend core business processes beyond your data center, enrich IoT data with edge analytics, speed up decision making, and increase the efficiency of workers.

  • Improve speed and performance: Quickly process and store events and edge data locally – to accelerate performance and reduce the volume of transfer data.

  • Simplify the user experience: Optimize local workflows to enhance the user experience and boost worker productivity.


Summary

Advances in digital technologies and the ways they connect are transforming business, changing how we live, work, and interact with each other. Intelligent device-to-device connectivity, the possibilities of connecting people, things and places in new and innovative ways is enabling new solutions and capabilities. From smart homes, cars and cities to wearables and automated industry processes, the future promises greater opportunities for investment, productivity, and improvement in the “connected world”.

SAP is investing in technologies and solutions to support the "Internet of Things" and to help bring your applications into the "Connected World".

Our partners have combined technology, data integration, the cloud, and industry expertise with the power of SAP’s IoT Platform to accelerate their connected transformation.

Let the SAP Embedded Solutions team show to leverage the “Internet of Things” to facilitate your transition to a “connected” enterprise.