Promoted content: Testing the ‘big bang’ of smart devices

Imagine today’s typical test manager, awash in an alphabet soup of wireless protocols and sensors upon sensors. Thanks to the proliferation of smart devices in the Internet of Things (IoT), it’s a circumstance not unlike a star-filled sky, teeming with a dizzying mix of possibility and disorientation that is surely keeping organisational leaders up at night as they wonder what to do next.

Chances are this isn’t unlike the overwhelming sense of wonder and bewilderment that ancient Greek astronomer Ptolemy must have felt when gazing up at a sky full of stars on a clear winter’s night, trying to rationalise the vast tableau before him.

But just as we wouldn’t critique early astronomers and philosophers for thinking stars revolved around Earth, we shouldn’t fault test managers for seeing the IoT from a device-under-test (DUT)-centric view. From this vantage point, the IoT can easily seem like an insurmountable 50-billion-device challenge for any test organisation. But when we apply what we now know about astronomy, we begin to see the expected universe of smart devices as systems of systems based on a few core elements that orbit a core architecture. By developing a test strategy with this architecture-centric perspective, your organisation will be prepared to meet the challenges and opportunities of the IoT and will be well positioned to capitalise on the expected US$19 trillion business opportunities it represents.