Ditto co-founder Max Alexander explains the benefits of cloud-option applications in deskless industries such as fast food and aviation, ensuring seamless operations during internet downtime.
Cloud-based applications offer many benefits, but for “deskless” industries like fast food restaurants, retail and airline hospitality, internet downtime can result in lost profits and major disruptions to operations.
Cloud Issues
Cloud-only apps may be easy to build, but it’s important to remember that cloud data travels long distances before being sent back to co-located devices. If the internet goes down, your business-critical applications become unavailable. Not only is this inefficient, it can be very costly. For example, in a fast-food restaurant, if connectivity is lost at any one point in the system from the ordering kiosk to the kitchen, customers won’t be able to receive their food, which directly impacts revenue.
Despite knowing that there are many points in the chain where the cloud can fail, cloud-native applications are extremely popular because the resources to build them are easily accessible, most companies have significant experience building cloud-native applications, many developer tools are tuned for developing cloud-native applications, and companies are collectively investing billions of dollars into building cloud-native applications.
Migrating to Cloud Option Applications
Cloud-based technology is not new; most people have had it on their systems for years. Anyone who has ever used AirDrop to send a photo to a friend is actually using peer-to-peer WiFi (P2P WiFi) to share data between two devices. However, developers building applications for cloud-based applications need to take special considerations. The key is that they need a local-first database architecture so that devices can modify data locally, and they need back-end logic that efficiently leverages local networks such as P2P WiFi so that data modifications can be shared with or without the Internet.
When creating these types of applications, there are various things that a developer needs to consider.
- First, databases prioritize local data synchronization whenever possible, so rather than sending data via the cloud to a far-away remote server, applications should first write changes to a local database, then detect changes from other devices on the network and integrate them as needed. Devices in the local network must be able to connect with other devices through the mesh network. Mesh network Each device is connected to many other devices, designed to work together to transmit and route data efficiently. If one device fails, there are multiple other paths for data to travel, making it reliable. The more devices you add to a mesh network, the stronger the network becomes.
Across a mesh network, different devices have different roles. Consider the example of a fast-food drive-thru ordering system: an employee takes customer orders on a tablet, the order data is sent to a kitchen monitor so staff can start preparing the food, and the payment data is sent to a handheld payment terminal. Once the order is ready, it is handed over to an employee working at the counter who delivers the order to the right customer. In this system, data is distributed across devices and it is important that it is properly synchronized to be shared in real time.However, while mesh networks are important in providing organizations with an architecture for cloud options, they are not a panacea. Because devices transmit large amounts of data over the mesh network, each device must take on a different role when synchronizing data. This means that smaller devices only handle what is requested, while larger devices, such as local and cloud servers, can focus on synchronizing as much data as possible so that users can always access it. Developers can use software development kits with different replication strategies to ensure this is done.
- Second, devices must be able to leave and join their local network when necessary. In contrast to the cloud’s “single source of truth” model, the same information must be distributed among devices. Although this seems like a simple solution, it is mathematically challenging to compute as the network topology changes over time. Therefore, it is key to create ad-hoc networks that are flexible, scalable, and can be set up spontaneously wherever devices are located without a predefined infrastructure. This is more efficient and the network does not need a complete history of the database to transmit data.
- Third, devices need to be forward compatible, meaning that whatever updates are made to the mesh network while the device is offline, the offline device needs to be able to sync with other devices on the network with the new data. Forward compatibility is achieved by incorporating metadata about schema changes over time, allowing the network to work with devices with a trusted order of changes that can be inspected. For example, in healthcare, in rural areas with limited connectivity, ensuring that all devices have up-to-date patient information is critical to patient outcomes.
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Cloud Option Technology Use Cases
- Restaurant / Fast food: Cloud Option technology allows restaurant POS systems to move customer orders from ordering kiosks or handheld devices to kitchen displays and even payment terminals without the need for Wi-Fi, in-store servers, or the cloud. Although this process involves multiple devices, peer-to-peer synchronization ensures that customers have a consistent experience and employees have a reliable system for processing orders. As a result, restaurants that have implemented Cloud Option technology have seen significant improvements in syncing latency between devices and ensuring reliable uptime during cloud or Wi-Fi outages.
- industry: In harsh industrial environments such as automotive manufacturing plants, machines, tools, and equipment rely on each other’s signals to keep work running smoothly throughout the assembly line. But connections in these environments are highly unreliable, with large metal objects blocking signals from access points and making cellular connectivity difficult to find. System downtime or unstable connections in cloud-dependent architectures can cause significant time and expense disruption to an already chaotic environment where the sequence of assembly operations is critical to the end product. Implementing peer-to-peer technology does two things for industrial plants: it frees up offline data delivery for devices, allowing factory machines, IoT, and workers’ mobile devices to continue operating normally during downtime, and it allows one online device to connect the entire mesh of devices to the cloud when the Wi-Fi system comes back up.
- Aviation: Cabin attendants ensure passenger safety and comfort by managing the pre-flight inspection process, coordinating with colleagues during the flight, and ensuring passengers receive the correct meal orders. When airlines deploy peer-to-peer technology, cabin attendants can seamlessly exchange data such as meal orders, menu changes, tasks, and chat messages across the aisle and cabin, improving customer experience and reducing task completion time for cabin attendants. For example, the technology allows passengers to order meals from their personal mobile phones during the flight, allowing crew members to track the order in real time without having to connect the passenger to expensive in-flight Wi-Fi. Cabin attendants can also leverage the technology to more efficiently execute internal processes such as guest service and in-flight product delivery.
Big ROI
Implementing a cloud-option architecture may require more up-front work, but the return on investment for your organization is substantial. Ensuring that devices are always connected through a peer-to-peer mesh network, even when connectivity is down, is paramount to keeping business operations running smoothly and efficiently across the deskless industry. With the right tools, skills, and support, the future of cloud options is in sight and a bright one awaits.
