Industrial IoT is No Longer about Technology. It is about Profits & Growth.

Even in serious business conversations, Industrial IoT discussions quickly turn to examination of different technology features, functions, and capabilities. And no wonder, because industrial IoT is inherently complicated in the scope of what is needed to deliver its full value to a business. From the implementation of sensors in fielded assets, aggregating information at the smart edge, passing all of this to the cloud, and creating powerful analytics, meaningful user interface experiences, and connectivity to other existing business system is, well, a lot.

In fact, in conversations with multiple business and product line owners to understand why they are not actively pursuing the tangible value IIoT will deliver, they cite the complexity and cost of Industrial IoT deployments. They clearly understand the high potential value, but often don't understand paths that now exist build and deploy enterprise-grade industrial capabilities far more easily. Many are very surprised to learn that Industrial IoT Platform ecosystem to the point that the IIoT digital transformation leap forward is well within their grasp.

We advise these business leaders to first focus on how, and how much, IIoT can “move the needle” across their businesses and, only after this assess what it actually takes – in today’s ecosystem of solutions – to make this a reality. This is because we are finally at a point with the evolved ecosystem of solutions that the IIoT technology is a manageable means to an end - where that end adding material new business value.

In the chart below, some of the key areas that can drive dramatic improvement to a business's P&L are highlighted.

? First, and most important, is revenue growth. Effective industrial IoT deployments, will inevitably drive market share growth through competitive strength and differentiation.

? But IIoT solutions also provide big new repeating revenues through industrial IoT application subscriptions.

? These benefits to OEMs and their customers are compounded through extensive and very realizable IIoT operational cost reductions, efficiencies, and improvements to services. Remote monitoring, remote management, predictive maintenance, preventative maintenance, smarter field and customer services, and longer asset life are just a few areas where industrial IoT applications bring huge savings to the bottom line.

But a very important program execution element in the graph above is the inflection point where the industrial IoT return on investment is greater than the investment in the industrial IoT application itself. This is a key success factor: Fast time to execution of a sustainable, strategic, and strong industrial IoT ROI often means the difference between success and failure of the IoT deployments. Velocity in execution, time to market, and cost of implementation creates a virtuous cycle of success – where the first success leads to the next, and the next.

At IoT83, driving this kind of velocity and fast time to value is our major focus. Our approach - first and foremost - is to greatly simplify the very complex to underlying technology of IoT to make it far easier to build enterprise grade, cyber secure, scalable, and reliable systems. We make this possible via our Flex Catalyst3 platform. But beyond this, we work closely with our customers to help them identify the most strategic yet achievable goals for initial deployment and translate this into a clear cut execution plan for success. This kind of focused execution, once completed, provides immediate payback on investment and also serves as the foundation for their long-term digital transformation process to maintain competitive advantage, generate new revenues, and grow market share. In short, success is often defined by minimizing the time that digital transformation costs outweigh the new revenues and operational savings that your IIoT solutions provide.

Please refer to my other articles to understand the full advantage is that or Flex Catalyst3 Platform provides to understand this enables us to consistently bring in transformation timelines and costs to deliver the early success that matters so much. But the key message for this article is this: When you choose a solid partner that can insulate you from the underlying complexities, risks, and costs of the technology itself, the business impacts of industrial IoT will quickly far outweigh the cost of implementation.

Whether you leverage the Flex Catalyst3 Platform or find another solution that can deliver these kind of results (naturally, I believe that will be a challenge), the Industrial IoT conversation no longer has to be about the daunting aspects of the technology. Now the conversation can focus on what matters: How to build sustainable competitive advantage, new revenues, new operational savings, better services, and growing the overall profitability of your business.