Avnet: Think Cognitive IoT. Think Avnet.

The recent years have seen great leaps in the realm of cognitive computing and artificial intelligence. Both the disciplines are now out of the lab and are into a wide range of industrial applications, catalyzing a shift from mere collection and collation to cognition. We have stepped in an era where the ability to process huge amounts of structured and unstructured data from spoken and written texts is transforming industries such as healthcare, finance, and retail. In addition, the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) is unlocking newer doors to technical innovation with unlimited access to data and new approaches to application development. However, with IoT, the narrative is paradoxical. While it promises to engage consumers in newer ways, the volume of data it generates and the security apprehensions it brings continue to dominate the direction IoT moves in. And, to help simplify the development cycle at every stage, Avnet, a global technology distributor, has partnered with IBM to offer an array of resources central to designing and managing IoT solutions based on IBM Watson IoT Platform, IBM Watson, and IBM Cloud. IBM Watson IoT offerings coupled with Avnet’s solutions and services extend the power of cognitive computing to connected devices and systems, enabling enterprises to harness real-time data, compare it with historical data sets, and generate newer insights that would benefit businesses and society alike.

Creating IoT Ecosystems

While bringing the physical and digital worlds together, Internet of Things (IoT) has vastly extended the reach and impact of IT’s transformational possibilities. Yet, IBM estimates that nearly ninety percent of IoT data is never utilized. Bringing intelligence to businesses’ IT systems and processes is Cognitive IoT. It is capable of understanding organizational goals, so it can integrate and analyze the relevant data to help achieve them. To assist enterprises to accelerate their IoT initiatives and seize more growth opportunities, Avnet amalgamates its strong manufacturer relationships, extensive product portfolio, vast global resources, and world-class services to create an unprecedented ecosystem for IoT initiatives.

Avnet helps its partners and customers expand their markets with multidimensional opportunities to acquire and incorporate products, access expertise to build solutions and channels, and to better understand products through a continually growing knowledge base.

The company has created fully integrated and interoperable development platforms for developers and designers who want to implement IoT functionality into their products and applications. These platforms include a wide range of sensors, with multiple connectivity options spanning the entire spectrum from near field communication to mobile broadband. In addition, these platforms have been enabled with direct access to the leading IoT cloud hosting platforms and the robust set of services within.

Engaging the Avnet-Values

Avnet has earned specialist knowledge of vertical markets and on-the-ground expertise in every part of the IoT space. “And leveraging that, we align customers with capabilities and services to address the entire range of IoT complexities, such as sensor design and development, infrastructure and gateway solutions, connectivity options, cloud IoT platforms, and global inventory management,” states Max Chan, Vice President of IT at Avnet.

To address the issue of constantly increasing range of sensors, connectivity, gateway, and security technologies, Avnet puts forth its Visible Things Platform as a means to simplify the complexities of secure edge to enterprise IoT technologies. Delivered in the form of multiple boards depending on the functionalities required, Visible Things provides a complete evaluation and reference platform to connect smart devices right through to the cloud and enterprise software. The platform has capabilities like quick evaluation of end application and optimized power consumption, to name a few, and can be applied for industry necessities like predictive maintenance of motors and drives, industrial automation.

Apart from offering a robust evaluation and development platform, Avnet has designed a high-performance, low-power hardware solution for IoT applications– the MAREN. It comes bundled with Fairchild's 9-axis sensor fusion algorithms and an on-chip AttitudeEngine motion processor for longer battery life, easy adoption, and enhanced user experience.

Furthermore, to enable designers easily prototype cloud-connected IoT designs and then rapidly move from development to production with a pre-certified wireless SoC module, Avnet offers its BCM4343W IoT Starter Kit.

Avnet provides global services to help customers create actionable IoT strategies throughout the entire technology lifecycle, including engineering, installations, warranty services, and global repair, replace, and recycling. It bridges the design, physical supply, and digital supply chains to provide a holistic foundation to support IoT initiatives. With best-in-class technology, suppliers, and unmatched design, Avnet enables customers to design, build, and distribute IoT edge devices, gateways, and cloud infrastructure around the world.

The Art of Possibilities

Avnet—backed by IBM—is offers a wide range of resources from edge of an enterprise to developing IoT solutions, that effectively gather information, connect to the Internet, and securely manage and analyze data. Avnet’s data center and cloud solutions based on IBM Watson IoT Platform provide analytics engines, asset management, data management tools, IoT Platform-as-a-Service, and unmatched security. Moreover, these offerings unlock access to the Avnet Cloud Marketplace, which features IBM Cloud infrastructure- IBM Software-as-a-Service solutions related to cloud, analytics, mobile, social and security applications.

Having enabled more than 100,000 customers to deploy networks of connected devices, Avnet strives to offer proof-of-concept solutions that keep IoT projects on track. “We understand that IoT initiatives can be complex, requiring deep technical knowledge from the semiconductor level to advanced data analytics. Hence, working together, Avnet and IBM can help clients further embrace the full promise of IoT using innovative technologies to uncover hidden patterns in data and act on them to transform their business.”