September 2021

State of Industry

Why Embedded Product OEMs Fail to Generate Attractive Valuations

Gone are those days when products worked in silos. We are in the middle of Industry 4.0, which is all about connected devices that communicate with each other and allow seamless data exchange between them. This digital transformation is also bringing a change in the embedded OEM market. Companies are now building smart, data-driven products that focus more on experiences and outcomes than functionality. According to research, the embedded system market is expected to reach $116.2 billion by 2025. There has been a steady rise in demand due to various factors such as demand for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) in hybrid vehicles, wearable devices, and the need for new components such as advanced medical equipment. In fact, digital transformation could become the key differentiator and generate alternate revenue for enterprises. However, all of this will not generate an attractive valuation if Product OEMs fail to do the one critical thing – product documentation. Why is Product Documentation Critical? Traditionally, product documentation was always given the least priority in enterprises. They always depended on the experienced employees to pass on the knowledge verbally to the new ones. However, the gap between the baby boomers and millennials is increasing. It’s hard for enterprises to find the right replacement for the employees who are on the verge of retirement. By the time the role is filled, the older employee would have retired. So, there’s no documented process that could guide the new employees. There’s a disconnect between what the new employee learns and implements. This disconnect could lead to various challenges: All these issues also make it challenging for the enterprise to implement product updates and adapt to the dynamic changes in the market. What Should Enterprises Do? Given the importance of documentation, enterprises need to prioritize it and make it a part of their development process. It will help the existing and new teams to avoid any hiccups during digital transformation or future updates. Typically, the product documentation goes through a set workflow of requirement analysis, planning, designing, and maintenance. How Intellore Can Help with Product Documentation? Intellore has a team of embedded product experts with rich domain expertise across various industries such as automation, transportation, etc. We have end-to-end experience in embedded product development, which includes concept development, requirements, design, development, verification, etc. Hence, we understand the significance of product documentation really well. We follow a three-step approach to product documentation: Does this sound interesting? For more information, contact us.

IntelliBytes

Technologies That are Powering the Smart Spaces of Tomorrow

In 2004, researchers from the National University of Singapore built a framework for a semantically advanced space. Such a space was characterized by context-aware applications gathering insights about the tangible surroundings. The idea was to coalesce the material and the virtual (digitized) worlds to nurture a smart space that complemented human efforts.  Fast forward to two decades, and the idea remains the same, except for the relatively manifold expectations out of advanced technologies like IoT, AI, and edge computing to materialize innovative, integrated, and disruptive smart spaces. It’s noteworthy that COVID-19 impacted the smart spaces market – it’s projected to constitute a global value of $18.4 billion by 2026. With R&D activities fueling up, this number will keep soaring with incremental year-on-year growths. Understanding Smart Spaces An area incorporating data-acquiring networked sensors for facilitating a seamless integration between humans and machines is a smart space or a connected place. These physical locations equip occupants and solution architects with knowledge about dynamic yet efficient space utilization.  Going by that definition, a smart space can be anything from a traffic intersection to a factory or a hotel or even an office — as long as it is equipped with sensors to gather data and insights about the environment. Such insights can be used to: The smart spaces market is a booming ecosystem established around solutions that add value to the physical world. It’s a consumer-oriented niche with spaces like homes or workplaces acting as platforms to provide value for people via real-time contextual services.  As such, the entire gamut of smart space solutions encompasses three key categories, namely: context-aware computing, IoT connectivity, and cloud. These three components are imperative for a fully functional smart space that offers a myriad of applications, ranging from entertainment to safety and security services. Technologies Powering the Smart Spaces of Tomorrow IoT as a Powerhouse for Innovative Smart Spaces The Internet of Things (IoT) is among the top-tier technologies being used to improve the quality of urban living. For instance, smart streetlights, smart roads, ambient lighting, and smart parking are all IoT-powered solutions. Such an ecosystem based on IoT is considerably better equipped to handle the tasks of space monitoring, energy management, and city surveillance.  Not to mention that IoT-powered smart spaces are capable of gathering information about various aspects like location/movement, behavior, personnel/vehicle/object history, energy consumption levels, and so on. To optimize the performance of smart spaces, each piece of information needs to be analyzed against the backdrop of real-time usage patterns. To this end, a variety of intelligent devices can be used to accommodate smart spaces, including: Blockchain as a Catalyst for Disruptive Smart Spaces Blockchain is a decentralized ledger that archives transactions across a network of communicating nodes. Owing to its immutability and transparency, blockchain technology has established itself as an integral part of the IoT ecosystem, where it is customarily used to track supply chain processes. Nevertheless, its applications extend far beyond inventory-oriented use cases.  For example, blockchain’s decentralized ledger system could be leveraged to help manage property leasing and subsequent monetary transactions. In that light, its alliance with the IoT ecosystem becomes highly valuable for the development of smart cities. And the benefits don’t end here.  Researchers from IIIT Kerela outline that blockchain’s “non-fungible token system avoids discrepancies or disputes in land usage patterns and ensures fair distribution of income to all the involved stakeholders.” After all, the success of smart spaces would depend on the overall efficiency of the system. Edge Computing as a Workhorse for Smart Spaces Edge computing refers to a distributed computing model where routing and data-processing tasks are shifted from a central server to end-user devices. In a nutshell, the idea of edge computing is to completely offload the required computational power from an overloaded or central point.  In this regard, edge computing, when considered a driving technology for smart spaces, can be used to speed up decision-making processes by cutting down the amount of data that needs to be processed at the cloud level and reducing the latency.  A prominent example of the aforementioned can be observed in the office space. For instance, an office is equipped with computer vision and an edge computing platform that is designed to collect data from surveillance cameras, motion sensors, and other IoT-enabled devices. As a result, the solution delivers real-time data analytics and insights about the space — both in static and dynamic forms — something that tenant companies can leverage to improve their processes. Another example of this concept is the installation of vision-based intelligent traffic lights. With smart traffic lights, there’s less need to send data to the cloud for processing purposes, which frees up bandwidth and enhances the performance of the network. An extension of the same could be analyzing traffic congestion and subsequently eliminating high congestion costs.  In a Nutshell Smart spaces are here to stay, and the combination of the IoT, cloud, AI, edge computing, and blockchain technologies would add further innovation to these highly efficient environments.  To know more about how to implement smart spaces in your real estate projects, feel free to get in touch with our experts.

Education

Intelligent Business Models for Intelligent Buildings

Intelligent Buildings are quickly becoming the norm. By combining the latest advances in cloud, connectivity, analytics, and physical design, they enable better visibility, greater energy efficiency, as well as improved safety for owners, operators, and occupants. Quick and easy access to real-time actionable insights delivers additional control over day-to-day operations while enhancing long-term outcomes. But, establishing Intelligent Buildings is not just about integrating cloud and IoT; organizations need to be able to devise intelligent business models, to be able to drive maximum value and returns from their investments. The Rise of Intelligent Buildings The growing focus on sustainable architecture and green design is the main driver that is driving the rapid growth of Intelligent Buildings. As concerns around global warming and climate change escalate, Intelligent Buildings pave the way for reduced energy consumption while allowing organizations to seamlessly integrate various building subsystems, which typically operate in silos, as they are supplied and installed by different vendors. Through sustainable design approaches, these buildings help preserve energy while offering new levels of insight and control. In addition, they also offer much-needed space flexibility along with high levels of safety and cost-effectiveness. In the long run, these features translate into highly efficient operations, optimized resource management, better space utilization, and greater occupant productivity. The Need for Intelligent Business Models Transforming urban buildings into Intelligent Buildings that pave the way for a sustainable and productive future is no longer just about fancy real estate. Today, the focus has shifted from cutting-edge smart building products towards offering unmatched intelligent experiences. In a green era, Intelligent Buildings need to enable companies to launch innovative business models where, instead of just the real estate, companies can charge for experience and lifestyles as well. Let’s look at some of the different business models building owners and operators can adopt to set Intelligent Buildings in motion: The shift towards intelligent models is quickly picking steam, as building owners and operators attempt to introduce an array of intelligent capabilities to keep up green energy requirements while also ensuring future revenue growth. This is increasingly imminent in the post-pandemic era, where most businesses are re-evaluating their strategies and seeking ways to enable on-demand, customized, and scalable access to space, amenities, and services. Instead of having “location” at the focus of every business strategy, operators now need to connect users with services, so location becomes deprioritized, and service becomes prioritized.

Scroll to Top