The era of connected devices is upon us. However, the substantial value created by having these devices Internet enabled is lost if they can not provide a real business function. Building communities of people, devices and enterprise systems is an essential step to realize this value, especially with the understanding that people still play a critical role in this triumvirate of connectivity.

The plethora of different device types, business functions and enterprise applications create an interesting design challenge. Designers must take an end-to-end system view of the Appliance-to-Business world when embarking on a journey into the world of appliance based communities.