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Beyond the surface hype IoT is critical to business, part two

In the first part of this blog I explained how IoT is being elevated from a home to a work environment, and the benefits it can bring. IoT is definitely the big promise of the future, but what interests me even more is the manner in which IoT is already being used today as a new spark in business right now.

For instance, the Engine Health Management being used by Rolls Royce to track the health of thousands of engines operating worldwide, using onboard sensors and live satellite feeds. These send real-time data on the engine’s function back to monitoring stations on the ground, which can be used to detect malfunctions before they become catastrophic.

As author-researcher Joe McKendrick points out, it’s time to “teach old machines new tricks.” This is even more essential as organisations transform into 21st century with businesses built on outcome-based models and ecosystems to create the experience that customers are seeking. IoT will play a key role here as an enabler of both these pillars:

The outcome economy: It will give us a stronger grip on the results of business processes as we increasingly automate the physical world through technology. This will place a growing emphasis on end products and the outcomes of business activities.

Connected ecosystems: Successful IoT implementation will create a new level of partnerships that may not have been consider a strategic fit today as companies and industries that currently operate in isolation redraw boundaries to form an ecosystem to collaborate and provide the desired customer experience. The prevalence of data sharing will enable software platforms to draw insights and identify parallel lines between businesses that never even realised they were connected.

Now that we have reached a point where IoT in business is more a matter of when than if, the most important question for us as catalysts of change is: What’s the ROI on IoT and how do we measure it?

This is the crucial bridge that businesses need to cross over from today to tomorrow. Organisations need to look at IoT in a very personal way – as the Internet of My Things – helping them experience the benefits of IoT in their context. Smart industrial solutions, enabling remote management and asset optimisation that drive unprecedented business value, mapped to specific cost and revenue benefits, achieve competitive advantage. The benefits are unmistakable across industries such as energy and utilities, travel and logistics, healthcare and medical and manufacturing. One recent project achieved a 20% enhancement in operational efficiencies – that’s no small return on investment.

While the media spotlight is on the gizmos and hype value of IoT, we need a parallel focus on its impact on business and ROI. As long as this is clear, businesses will dig deep to draw the necessary resources to focus on the necessary collaborative effort and overcome any remaining roadblocks to build this amazing bridge to tomorrow.