Sprint’s New IoT Platform Has Possibilities for Workforce Data

Network Core

Sprint unveiled an IoT platform it calls Curiosity, which allows enterprises to manage IoT devices and connectivity across SIM profiles and quickly generate information from device data collected through the system’s core.

Network CoreWhile the platform wasn’t created with HR issues in mind, it could be a foundation for improved employee tracking and other types of data-gathering.

Sprint worked with the infrastructure-provider Packet and the device-architecture developer Arm—like Sprint, both are Softbank companies—to create what it calls a unique approach to IoT management and operations. Sprint’s emphasis on data security could make Curiosity an intriguing option for workforce data analysts looking for new ways to collect information from employees during the workday.

Because of Arm’s approach to managing device security and “over the air” management, Curiosity provides systems managers with new options for systems oversight and application deployment, Sprint said. Packet’s bare metal servers allow the distributed core to reduce the distance between devices generating data and the applications processing it from 1,000 miles to less than 50.

The result, said Packet CEO Zachary Smith, is an IoT platform that brings “the network to the data, rather than the data to the network.”

Hima Mukkamala, senior vice president and general manager at Arm, noted the IoT “provides a tremendous opportunity for organizations to obtain actionable insights from their devices and data, but require strong company integrations to manage the vast industry fragmentation and security challenges.”

Sprint especially touts Curiosity’s virtualized and distributed core: It reduces the distance between devices generating data and IoT applications processing it, markedly cutting the time need for intelligence to be generated.

Arm’s Platform Security Architecture framework provides a common and secure foundation for IoT devices, including a holistic set of threat models, security analysis, hardware and software specifications, and open source firmware. Meanwhile, the company data management platform collects device data and integrates with information from across the organization.

Image: 123RF

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