Continued from Page 1
Two Key Ingredients for Next-Gen IoT
The availability of special-purpose IoT devices developed for relatively low-volume applications should tell us that few obstacles stand in the way of developing endpoints to serve any range of large-volume applications. Similarly, both private (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, etc.) and public (e.g., 3G/4G/5G) wireless network providers are itching to get a piece of the emerging IoT pie. The mobile operators, in particular, are chomping at the bit to get into the IoT race. Doing so, they hope, will help them better deal with stagnating growth rates -- stemming from market saturation and lower ARPU driven by an intensifying price war -- for their traditional offerings.
IoT doesn't want for technology, but it does need two elements if it's to achieve business viability:
Without a doubt, marketing departments have fully embraced IoT, as we can see on any UC vendor website. NEC is something of a standout in this, with real-world examples to illustrate how its visual recognition and other technologies can drive IoT applications.
While we have seen plenty pieces of solutions, what we really need are the people who can assemble and deliver them. IBM is taking a stab at this, and reinforcing the message with TV ads touting the Watson element. Indeed, analytics are going to be one of the major byproducts of IoT, and IBM has made major investments on that front.
In the end, however, great ideas are all well and good, but you still have to pay the rent. Having a great IoT application idea is little more than a high school science project unless you can come up with a way to monetize it. In some cases, particularly Industrial IoT (IIoT), the benefit can come in the form of reduced maintenance costs, greater efficiencies, and other hard-dollar savings. Other monetization strategies may call for more creativity.
In health care, providers are often strapped for cash, but insurance companies are in a different position. Monetization can come from payers that benefit when IoT sensors monitor patients with an eye on reducing hospital stays and treatment costs -- not to mention making people healthier. Progressive recognized the benefit of insuring safer drivers, and came up with the Snapshot program to identify them.
Crowd-sourcing capabilities like Waze and Google Maps can add a money-making component to a "free" service, either through advertising, paid commercial spin-offs, or providing information on the actions and movements of the "free" subscribers to those with an interest in knowing more about existing or potential customers. Clearly, someone had better be paying attention to the privacy considerations surrounding those activities.
Conclusion
It's safe to say that IoT is here, and we have more than a few examples to illustrate that. By the same token, we still have a ways to go before we see the enormous impacts that IoT can deliver over the long run. I devote little of my attention to the legions who have seized upon IoT as the latest buzzword to decorate their PowerPoint presentations, but I am constantly on the lookout for the creative business people who will make billions delivering this next generation of technological capabilities.
There will be technical challenges, just as with anything, but the greater challenges will be imagination, business savvy, and managing the societal implications like personal freedom and privacy.
Those of us involved in the technology fields should be itching to get involved in what is going to be our next great adventure.
Follow Michael Finneran on Twitter and Google+!
@dBrnWireless
Michael Finneran on Google+
