How IoT is Transforming Business

For enterprise businesses, IoT means much more than just connecting devices to the internet. Today, the technology is reinventing the way we do business, creating opportunities for us to use data to get smarter about products, services, and the customer experience. Forbes Insights recently conducted a study that found that 60 percent of enterprises surveyed are using IoT to transform or expand their work with new lines of business. Our own research echoes the transformational power of IoT – Vodafone’s IoT Barometer found that nearly 75 percent of business consider digital transformation impossible without IoT. Following their study, Forbes published a great article about some of the ways the technology is reinventing business. Here are the key points, which I’ve found to be true through our work with customers at Vodafone:

• Data = Opportunity: IoT gives businesses the power to collect and analyze much more data than they’ve ever had access to before. One industry where we’ve seen this come to life is in manufacturing. When businesses can add sensors to equipment on the factory floor, they’re better able to track how efficiently equipment is running. Access to that data can help businesses to make adjustments in real time, leading to better performance and more productivity, which ultimately opens businesses to opportunities for innovation and growth.
• Know Your Customer: Sensors allow businesses to get to know their customers, through data. A view into when, how and where customers use connected products and services can help companies tailor offerings to their needs. It can also help businesses improve the customer experience by responding to issues and request in real-time. Forbes gives the example of an airport tracking maintenance of assets like escalators and security equipment in real-time, and making repairs as needed to improve the airport experience for travelers. The fact that IoT can help to improve the customer experience is critical – the Forbes Insights study found that more than half of businesses are using IoT to build on the customer experiences they’re delivering.

How is your business using IoT? Has it changed the way you operate? To read more about the ways IoT is reinventing business, you can check out the full Forbes article here: https://bit.ly/2MIZXK8