The Role of Cloud Computing in the Internet of Things (IoT)

In June 2000, LG made headlines with a quirky advertisement of a refrigerator that could do more than just keep groceries fresh. Fitted with an LCD Screen and the ability to connect to the internet, the fridge could churn out recipes, tell you how fresh your groceries are, when you may need to go shopping next, and even play music for you. 

Back then, it was hailed as an over-the-top invention that was nothing more than gimmicks. But today, we’ve come a long way towards accepting devices into our homes that communicate with us. It’s all thanks to advances in two technologies – cloud computing and IoT. In this article, we discuss the role of these technologies, how they propel each other, and where we’re headed in the near future.

A Quick Overview of the Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of interconnected devices and sensors that aid in forging turnkey solutions for everyday tasks. Smart cities, smart homes, smart wearables, and even smart driverless cars are all a testament to the growing revolution of IoT. 

Today’s startups and legacy IT giants have successfully commercially implemented IoT in all market segments – from wearable devices that monitor the condition of cancer patients to connecting air fleets and cargo for reducing delay, IoT is everywhere. 

According to Statista, more than 75 billion IoT devices will be in use by 2025 and essentially dictate the path for global technological advancement. 

What Is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is a trailblazing advancement in data management and infrastructure technologies. Cloud computing enables companies (including IoT service providers) to reduce or even eliminate dependency on in-house infrastructure, i.e. traditional data centres. Cloud computing services providers like Google Cloud, Amazon AWS, and Microsoft Azure allow organisations to use data infrastructure on demand. 

The revolutionary technology comes at a time where economies of scale are playing a significant role in the market. Simply put, organisations who make use of the cloud get quick and unfettered access to all things data management – servers, storage, databases, networking, and intelligence – without the need for large capital. 

More than 96% of organisations today have implemented some form of cloud computing.

Why Do Cloud Computing and the Internet of Things Go Hand-in-Hand?

In some ways, cloud and IoT are complementary technologies. The Internet of Things creates and relies on big data for functionality, while Cloud gives easy access for organisations to store, retrieve and traverse large quantities of data. Some advantages that cloud computing offers specifically to IoT include:

• Scale-as-you-grow: Growing businesses that are interested in providing IoT application development to better service customers need not invest huge amounts of precious capital in building a data centre. Organisations also need not anticipate how many servers and databases they may require. As the cloud is a scalable and flexible data management solution, simply expand along with the expanding customer-base and let the market dictate where resources are divulged.
• Remote access: As the reliance on data centres is reduced, companies have been able to open doors for IoT to do much more than the usual. The cloud’s vast storage, miniaturisation and higher internet speeds (thanks to fibre, 4G and upcoming 5G), have made IoT expand global reach infinitely.
• Security, privacy, and business continuity: Since the cloud is not dependent on a particular location, downtime issues are virtually eliminated. There is also no question of data loss. Companies can provide customers with essential service even during tragic unanticipated events like natural disasters. Moreover, combining IoT capabilities with legacy systems like biometrics using cloud ensures preventive, detective, and corrective controls that vastly enhance security for IoT applications.
• Facilitating inter-device communication: With the advent of BYOD, CYOD, and remote working, it’s more important than ever that IoT devices are not just able to communicate with humans but also with each other so that all systems are up-to-date. Many powerful APIs like Cloudflare, CloudCache and Dropstr are cloud-enabled in order to ease inter-device communication.
• Pairing with edge computing: Edge computing is a method that allows data to be collected and partially processed at source before it is sent for analysis to the main node/server. This helps reduce the number of direct connections to the cloud and vastly increases response time, allowing for much more reliable and cost-effective services.
• Quick updates and low barriers of entry: Cloud allows even small startups to provide top-notch IoT services to customers as it is a flexible solution. Not only that, roll out of updates are much more simplified with the cloud. This is of special importance for developing economies and fast-paced market environments.

The Future: What Next for Cloud Computing and IoT

The rising use of multi and hybrid cloud environments is a tell-tale sign that companies are ready to take the next step forward with streamlining data management. Increased acceptance among the general public and the pandemic economy have propelled the IoT advancements and integration remarkably. The buzzing combination of IoT Cloud is here to pave the path for a revolutionary new landscape in the increasingly digital technological landscape.