Making Sense Of The SAP Leonardo IoT Bridge

[Former Member]

Most people engaged in SAP have already heard of Leonardo - the system that SAP has developed for use with emerging technology such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and blockchain, to name just a couple. Ever since Leonardo popped up on people's radars in 2017, it has been an intriguing innovation, but very few people seem to grasp exactly how beneficial Leonardo can be to business simply because of its ability to bridge with IoT. Part of this comes from an unfamiliarity with IoT, and part of it comes from an obscure presentation of what SAP Leonardo is capable of. Everything that we can be excited about regarding SAP Leonardo starts from the Leonardo IoT bridge.

What Does the IoT Bridge Mean to Businesses?

Instead of a technological breakdown that a lot of different places have offered when it comes to the IoT, let's focus on what the SAP Leonardo IoT bridge means in practical business terms. First of all, having goods connected by IoT allows a business to have an idea of where its goods are at any point in time, the amount currently available to them and gives them insight into the logistics process that they would never have had before. Additionally, the data collected by the IoT devices can be stored, mapped, catalogued and retrieved for analysis at a moment's notice. And what can we use to do all of this? Applications developed on the SAP Cloud, of course.  The beauty of Leonardo is that it interfaces seamlessly with a SAP database installation, allowing for the processing of data as it's received.

Analysis and Growth through New Technology

The IoT Bridge and the associated application development opens up a lot of new doors to businesses. It allows a business to simplify its procedures, making the company more efficient, but at the same time allowing the business to deliver the same sort of effectiveness as they always have. The data collected from IoT devices can be used to identify potential risks which can be dealt with before they become a problem. It can also be used to pinpoint potential problems to dynamically adapt to a changing environment in real time. Data can also be measured against historic data in order to determine if there have been discrepancies within the system. From there a company can move to deal with these problems through investigation of methods and methodologies, depending on what is at fault.

Real-Time Data for Real-Time Decisions

As is the norm with SAP, the data that comes into the system in real-time can be accessible in real-time as well. Updates can ensure that information is current and that decisions aren't being made on data that is outdated. In many industries, data that is even an hour old can mean a major difference in whether a company takes one of several possible positions. The IoT bridge offers unique insight into the factors that affect the products in question. Businesses would have to spend less time and effort building and maintaining their incoming data processes and dedicate more of their effort into developing and maintaining customer service. Additionally, the IoT bridge could help with that since it could also theoretically allow a business to update a customer on the location of their orders in real time.

A Secure Method of Moving Data

Businesses in the twenty-first century always have to be wary of security breaches. The IoT has raised a lot of flags in the past about its security and the ability for data transmitted from devices to be intercepted. Luckily, in using the IoT bridge with SAP Leonardo, there isn't any chance of that happening. The IoT bridge serves to keep data on the network as secure as if it were located on your own private SAP server. The platform allows for an innovative approach to problem solving as well as a look into developing applications with a mind to solve problems without having to focus on the tiny details. SAP Leonardo is the next great leap in enterprise solution development, and one that businesses would be wise to invest in as soon as they could.