You’ve already been using a multifold of sensors and actuators in your network for years. Therefore, you’ve already been dealing with Internet of Things (IoT) endpoints. The number and application of new IoT endpoints, however, is exploding. It’s time to realign focus from the devices to the data produced, and the actions taken in response to that data.
From Products to Data
There is a tremendous assortment of intelligent IoT endpoints and applications. IoT endpoints have embedded processors with individual identities that can sense changes, locate positions, process data, make decisions, and communicate this information and decisions to another system or service to be acted upon and produce responses. Smart products require applications to fulfill the goals of the designers and users. They must merge with other technologies such as wireless and social networks, cloud computing, and data analytics. From a management perspective, IoT success solely depends on technology. The integration of multiple technologies leads users to enable or subscribe to data-driven services.
The enterprise needs to focus more on the data than on the endpoint — the point of IoT, after all, is to collect and respond to data. The thought process is a transformation toward the digitization of the enterprise. Knowledge gained from IoT endpoints leads to new service offerings while embedding IoT technology into internal machines and operating systems can lead to process optimization and efficiency and safety improvements.
Business Model Influence
The continuous delivery of data from IoT endpoints can lead to a subscription-based revenue stream, not a one-time payment.
Customers need to be more involved in service and value creation. That, in turn, changes the enterprise customer relationship. The significant activity is to convert data into value. The enterprise must implement appropriate digital platforms. The services offered will have to be priced with new cost structures. The enterprise’s internal organizational units will need to be modified or entirely restructured to support the new services.
The enterprise-to-customer relationship will change from a traditional buyer-seller relationship to a more complex relationship that operates as a partnership. If the data value produces financial and business results, then the buyer-seller relationship will improve, and buyer loyalty cemented.
To learn how IoT devices impact your network, attend the Enterprise Connect 2020 session “
Is Your Network Ready for IoT?” on Wednesday, April 1, at 4:00 p.m., in conference room Sun B.
