With every New Year it brings the possibility of exciting new technology. With more households having some sort of computing than ever before, we keep learning (and playing) ways we can use these devices to better enrich our lives and home and at work.
It’s not all exhilaration though, when new technology is launched there is pressure for IT technicians to learn how to deploy, train and support. With more devices needing to communicate with the internet and even each other, security implications are the main focus and with the expectation of availability 24/7.
We already have the portable devices able to help us meet these requirements such as smart phones and smart watches, these gadgets will connect to other tech and communicate by using cloud computing, IoT (Internet of Things) and IoE (Internet of Everything) in the workplace and at home.
Take a look at your home, already your phones, TV’s, satellite box’s and heating can connect to the internet so you can remotely control them should you need to. This year you will be able to see more household devices connect to the internet as standard. Fridges freezers, washing machines, blinds and kettles to name a few, with different manufactures coming together to make an IoE standard meaning you won’t be restricted to one brand.
IoE isn’t just about the user being able to control the devices just as much as the device learning how and when the user would like things done, the embedded tech will work away in the background and then provide information that benefits our lives.
So, picture yourself getting to work in the morning and what your devices could do to make your morning routine easier:
6:20 – knowing your alarm is about to wake you up, your heating comes on upstairs.
6:25 – Your alarm goes off a little earlier than normal as your car lets your alarm know it’s frozen so you will need to defrost your car and set off a little earlier this morning.
7:00 – After a shower you make your way to the kitchen, you wearable smart devices senses this and turns on the coffee machine and TV in the kitchen.
7:25 – A traffic report mentions your usual route into work is congested so messages you to set off even earlier to make it to work on time.
7:45 – As you leave your property you lock the door with your portable smart device, this in turn switches off everything electrical that needs to be (pre-set so your router and sky box stay powered!) STOP, your glasses inform you that you are about to leave them behind so you quickly run back in for them.
8:10 – Your smart phone has informed your workplace you are 10 minutes away so the heating comes on.
8:20 – You get to the office and again use your phone to unlock the door, the lights, coffee machine and even your computer turns its self on ready for when you make it to your desk.
8:28: – You are at your desk, coffee at your side, PC ready to work and you try to remember how you managed to get into work on time without all this tech helping you in the morning!
Normally you would need a PC or server with specialised software at both your home and business in order to perform such tasks, however the availability of these services will be put in “the cloud” and can be the responsibility of the device manufactures or a third party service management company.
The above may come sooner than we think, but usually at a dramatic cost increase at first.
There are however cost effective solutions right now that integrate using cloud which the IT decision makers can consider, whether it’s a fully hosted service, file sync and backup using OneDrive / Dropbox or just emails in the cloud using Microsoft’s Office 365 or Google Apps.
Whether your business is looking to improve its current setup or its being forced to upgrade to end of life software such as Microsoft Server or Outlook 2003, deciding what should and what shouldn’t go into a hosted environment could be a difficult decision.
With over 125 years of collective experience, Care Micro’s engineers are trained in traditional onsite physical or virtual servers, public and private cloud or a hybrid model which combines the onsite and offsite services. Contact Care Micro today to find what options are available to you.