The Three Myths of IoT

There are three myths in the world of Internet of Things (IoT):

1. Myth 1: IoT is about the devices or "things"
2. Myth 2: There is a divide between IoT and IIoT
3. Myth 3: There must be a divide between IT and OT

In this article, I will make a case that all three of these are myths or arbitrary distinctions. The labels of IoT, IIoT, IT, and OT are arbitrary and they have created unnecessary divisions that are destructive to the business as whole. My goal is to break down these mythical barriers by challenging the reader to look beyond the labels and see the unification that already exists!

Myth 1: IoT is about the devices or "Things"

I had a conversation recently with the management of a large coffee company. They were trying to figure out how "IoT" fits into their organization across their entire bean-to-cup supply chain. The organization spans a wide variety of industries from farming, manufacturing, distribution, and QSR store operations. We quickly learned, after interviewing people from all across the organization, that everyone had a different definition of "IoT!" To some it was about embedded chips. To others it was about temperature sensors. To some it was a dashboard (they couldn't use). To some it was their phone. To others it was about gaining visibility into data. Many definitions. None wrong.

I suggested to the client that they re-think what the label IoT means. I said that I prefer thinking of all forms of the classical definition of a noun, as in "Internet of People, Places, or Things." I also suggested that "things" should also include AI agents and software that runs the business. Everything is seen as just another source of events.

I suggested this because the overarching goal of "IoT" is to enable collaboration between humans, AI, and machines.

Once we begin to think of IoT in this way, we quickly realize IoT is about connecting more than just a sensor. We realize that by limiting it to just devices or things, we fail to achieve this true goal or intent of IoT. I told the coffee client that this goal can be achieved when IoT doesn't stop at connecting devices and begins to address all 5Cs: Connect, Capture, Correlate, Communicate and Command as I discuss in my white paper entitled Collaborative Intelligence.

IoT device data alone doesn't translate into action or commands that produce continual improvement of a business process. Correlation with other sources of data is required to put it into context. AI agents specialize in correlation of many sources of data and collaborating with humans to orchestrate action. This is why we must bust the myth that IoT is just about connecting the device.

Myth 2: There is a divide between IoT and IIoT

Is there really a difference between Internet of Things and Industrial Internet of Things? I say Absolutely NOT. "Industrial" is just a marketing label to make it seem more special and focused industrial use cases. I work with many industries and they all think theirs is unique. In reality, the only difference is the type of data sources and the volume of the data streaming. IoT might be seen as a simple temperature sensor. IIoT might be see as one temperature tag, of many other tags, coming from a PLC-connected machine. All, at their core, are simply real-time, time series data sources independent of the business sector where they are used.

Industry is connecting more and more to other types of non-PLC IoT devices on the shop floor, like AI cameras, edge AI devices, bluetooth devices and even AR/VR headsets. Many of these types of devices are not well supported by traditional industrial software, but that is changing. Industrial architectures, like Unified Namespace (UNS), are leveraging MQTT protocol in order to connect to more than just PLCs. AI agents are now spreading across the shop floor talking to the cloud. The lines are even more burred between IoT and IIoT. This is why we must bust the myth that there is an industry divide along with re-defining what IoT means.

Myth 3: There must a divide between IT and OT

IT is Information Technology. OT is Operations Technology. There is a lot of hype around the IT/OT divide in context of the manufacturing use cases for IoT. Fact is, IT software now runs on the "OT side" and OT software now runs in the cloud on the "IT Side." Companies like Tulip Interfaces offer cloud-native MES software. Edge companies like Litmus Automation offer seamless integration between IT and OT with built-in secure connectors and UNS MQTT Brokers. I recently connected software from both of these companies in a matter of minutes. And now, you can easily connect AI Agents on shop floor to the cloud. Many companies are busting the myth that OT must be completely separated, or air-gapped from the rest of the world. It is possible to seamlessly break down the barrier betweeh OT and IT. It is already torn down! This is no longer the plant where your grandpa worked.

Assuming you agree that these three myths are busted, hopefully you share the vision where humans, AI Agents, and machines are collaborating seamlessly across all industry and network boundaries. Hopefully you see that all data from people, places and things is seen as just various sources of events. Hopefully you will see that AI agents are capable of helping us orchestrate all of these events and turn them into action. Hopefully, you can look beyond the labels of IoT, IIoT, IT, and OT and see the unification that is possible right now.