M2M in the Cloud: Back to Basics

2011.8：M2M in the Cloud is a nice marketing term. Unfortunately, as in many other areas of ICT (Information and Communications Technology), the concept has not only been over-hyped, it has also been interpreted in ways that reflect the agendas of different vendors and this has resulted in the dissemination of confusing and at times contradictory information. One can attribute this situation to the fact that the whole scenario is evolving at a furious pace, as is Cloud Computing, i.e. the foundation on which M2M in the Cloud is based. Therefore in this short article, the first of a series, that is where we are going to start.

The "cloud" is a metaphor for the Internet and other networks. In the case of a public cloud it comprises a very large pool of computing resources that may run to hundreds of thousands of commodity servers. However, they appear to be a single virtual resource that provides processing power as a service using a flexible pay-per-usage model. The main technologies that support this business model are SAAS (Software as a Service) and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture).

Conclusion: instead of purchasing and maintaining large servers to run mainstream business processes like e-mail, CRM and ERP - over-engineered in order to handle peak workloads - companies simply buy the requisite amount of computing power as and when it's needed.

M2M can harness this power

The power can be harnessed in different ways, so let's start at the ground floor. The regular M2M model involves proprietary technology that processes sensor data, turning it into actionable, real-time information. For example, a display that shows the location of vehicles in a transportation fleet. Processing takes place on the solution provider's server, which has limited resources.

This is a relatively simple, initial step but application developers can now run their apps in the cloud. OPEX is now replaced by CAPEX, but more significant is the fact that they can accommodate vast amounts of data, e.g. the consumption of water, gas and electricity in tens of millions of homes.

The next step is really significant. M2M data is transported as IP packets and would typically be converted into an XML data structure, which enables the service provider's developers to create the application, i.e. display the location of the vehicles in our hypothetical example. This is a relatively simple task for a good programmer.

Separating the M2M business logic aspect of the application from the real-time end-user information allows programmers to employ the ICT languages and tools with which they are familiar. This means that it is easier and faster to add new features and improve interfaces. In addition, it allows M2M data to be integrated into mainstream business processes. And once this data is in the cloud it can be used in myriad ways; in fact, in any way that makes business sense. For example, maybe a mash-up graph that shows some device property over time, which is then posted as a chart in a discussion forum. There are endless possibilities and we shall look at a few in the next article in this series.


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The contributors are:

Alexander Bufalino
Global VP Marketing Telit Communications PLC