Jacob Harel of Zeidman Technologies recently noted that IoT developers are currently spending the majority of their resources finding ways to collect and analyze data. “The twist, and pitfall, is that the amount of data moving through the system can swamp the system’s servers and hubs and overwhelm the databases,” he wrote in an Embedded Computing Design article.
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Aligning corporate and startup strategies for the IoT
Rambus CMO Jerome Nadel recently participated in an Internet of Things World panel about aligning corporate and startup strategies. As Nadel notes, the key to achieving successful synergy between the two requires a nuanced understanding of how established corporations and nascent startups differ.
Aligning corporate and startup strategies for the IoT
Rambus CMO Jerome Nadel recently participated in an Internet of Things World panel about aligning corporate and startup strategies. As Nadel notes, the key to achieving successful synergy between the two requires a nuanced understanding of how established corporations and nascent startups differ.
“We need to ask ourselves: how do large companies think as opposed to small startups? For example, veteran corporations tend to focus on platform or system plays within a three to five year strategy cycle,” he explained. “In contrast, startups are far more passionate about niche point solutions that often deal with specific consumer-facing scenarios.”
Rambus’ strategy, says Nadel, straddles a fine line between the two, with the company focused on bringing the true value of semiconductors closer to the consumer in a strategic manner.
“We have three primary divisions: Memory, Security and Emerging Solutions (Rambus Labs), the latter of which serves as an active incubator for the next generation of semiconductor technology,” he continued. “One of the Internet of Things (IoT) projects Labs is currently working on involves lensless smart sensors (LSS), which will help enable the next-generation of low-power sensing for consumers. At one millimeter thin, these thermal and visible light sensors are small enough to integrate directly into existing devices and applications, including digital eyewear, smart homes, VR and AR, as well as automotive.”
To develop and explore potential use cases for LSS, says Nadel, Rambus collaborated with design firms IXDS and frog in the context of the company’s Partners-in-Open-Development (POD) program.
“We asked them to prototype a number of minimum viable products around LSS in specific, clearly defined verticals. Tapping into a design-based, contrarian start-up mindset helped us open up and achieve a viable ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ critical for a very competitive IoT marketplace,” he explained. “This illustrates the value of adopting a hybrid approach to marketing, one that tactfully blends logic and long-term strategy with passion and an immediate, forward-facing consumer mentality.”
In a broader sense, says Nadel, Rambus’ successful collaboration with IXDS and frog shows that technology design and marketing are irrevocably intertwined.
“At Rambus, we take a hands-on approach to product design. Understanding how our customers will use a product plays a direct role in influencing its development,” he added. “It is therefore essential for semiconductor marketing teams to think like designers upstream at the beginning of the creative process, rather than simply focusing on more traditional marketing methods downstream when a product is taped out or finalized. If you are promoting what you helped create, you naturally have a better understanding of the product itself.”
IoT security spending to hit $348 million in 2016
Gartner analysts have confirmed that global spending on Internet of Things (IoT) security will reach $348 million in 2016 – marking a 23.7 percent increase from $281.5 million in 2015. Although overall spending is expected to be moderate, at least initially, Gartner analysts say IoT security market spending will increase at a faster rate after 2020, as improved skills, organizational change and more scalable service options improve execution.
IoT security spending to hit $348 million in 2016
Gartner analysts have confirmed that global spending on Internet of Things (IoT) security will reach $348 million in 2016 – marking a 23.7 percent increase from $281.5 million in 2015.
Although overall spending is expected to be moderate, at least initially, Gartner analysts say IoT security market spending will increase at a faster rate after 2020, as improved skills, organizational change and more scalable service options improve execution.
“The market for IoT security products is currently small, but it is growing as both consumers and businesses start using connected devices in ever greater numbers,” explained Ruggero Contu, a research director at Gartner. “[We] forecast that 6.4 billion connected things will be in use worldwide in 2016, up 30 percent from 2015, and will reach 11.4 billion by 2018. However, considerable variation exists among different industry sectors as a result of different levels of prioritization and security awareness.”
In addition, says Contu, more than 25 percent of identified attacks in enterprises will involve the IoT by 2020; even as the IoT is expected to account for less than 10 percent of IT security budgets. As such, security vendors will be challenged to provide usable IoT security features, despite limited budgets and a decentralized approach to early IoT implementations. Interestingly, vendors are also expected to “focus too much” on identifying vulnerabilities and exploits, rather than exploring segmentation and other long-term methods of better protecting the IoT.
As we’ve previously discussed on Rambus Press, the burgeoning IoT is expected to be the next big market for cyber security. Indeed, according to analysts at ABI Research, the IoT security ecosystem is expanding – with vendors finding their way into three primary groups. These include hardware (chipset/SoC/microcontroller), firmware/software (embedded OS/RTOS/hypervisor), and applications (platform/cloud/service/analytics) across a wide range of verticals, including automotive, smart home, healthcare, and energy.
According to Michela Menting, Research Director at ABI Research, there is increasing interest – and requirements – for improved levels of security to be designed into products, devices, and networks to protect data, combat fraud, and prevent criminal hacking.
“Promising opportunities, and undeniably challenges, will center on securing assets, protecting data, and ensuring privacy,” she explained.
As Menting points out, standardization and guideline developments are still at a relatively nascent stage. Indeed, numerous groups, including the Cloud Security Alliance, the Trusted Computing Group, the OWASP IoT Project, the IEE, GSMA, NFC Forum, ISO, GlobalPlatform, and IoT Security Foundation, among others, are working on different aspects of security standards, from hardware design to network connectivity.
“When mapping out these new standards, it is important to keep in mind numerous considerations, such as small footprints, lightweight agents, low energy consumption, mobile assets, and permeable networks,” Menting concluded.
Interested in learning more about securing the IoT? You can check out our article archive on the subject here.
Shifting gears for the IoT
Writing for Semiconductor Engineering, Ann Steffora Mutschler observes that a shift is currently underway in the automotive industry as more connected vehicles hit the road each year.“[Connectivity adds] many of the features that consumers now expect in mobile devices as well as some new ones that ultimately will lead to autonomous vehicles,” she explained.
