Internet Of Things: Important Things You Need To Know About It's Implementation

There is no doubt that the Internet of Things (IoT) is taking over. Numerous enterprises have realized that to stay ahead, they must adopt IoT. There is a rapid transformation of our day-to-day lives. Smart homes, smart offices, smart cities, connected cars, wearable devices are becoming more and more commonplace with every passing day.

IoT technology is in the nascent stage yet and McKinsey Global Institute predicts that IoT will have a global impact of USD 4 to USD 11 Trillion a year by 2025 (Global, n.d.).

However, for these forecasts to become reality, technological, organizational, and economical challenges need to be overcome. IoT has endless opportunities and possibilities, and to realize its true potential, it needs the complete, cooperative involvement of the IT, operations and business teams.

Business Goals and The Outcome

Like any other project, IoT implementation comes with its own set of risks. For achieving the desired outcome, stakeholders need to define the expected outcome and how it plays a role in the bigger picture of business goals. Before deciding to go ahead with the implementation, it is imperative to decide how it will impact efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction. Key performance indicators (KPIs) should be identified that would measure if the implementation is successful or not.

Testing the waters

The next step of a successful IoT application is to determine which applications, devices or machines will be deployed first. To offset high setup costs, hardware, equipment, and machinery can be sourced from existing inventory when possible. It is not true that an IoT implementation is an all-or-nothing proposition. Any new investment is first deployed in a pilot phase to check the desired outcomes and results. Once successful, the entire implementation takes place.

Choosing the Right Data Points

Data is the crux of any successful implementation of enterprise IoT solutions. Sensors attached to the devices generate massive amounts of data which must be stored and processed. Hence, it is very important to choose the right data points that can contribute meaningful insights to the business and not get caught up in data-hoarding!.

Defining the Device Connectivity Standards

An enterprise IoT solution is based on a variety of connectivity mechanisms and protocols. By defining the device connectivity standards, how the sensors and actuators talk to legacy device is defined. The right combination of transport and data format protocols across stack will result in the successful implementation in the long run.

Security Implementation Across Each Layer

Devices tend to become vulnerable to malware and hacking as they are connected to the internet. Hence, they need to be anonymized, encrypted and compressed. A right governance model is mandatory to ensure that sensitive reports and datasets have restricted access. IoT security needs to be tightly aligned with corporate policies and best practices. It will define which person and roles can access the devices, BI reports and/or controls. Even before IoT implementation, business rules need to be outlined that will define the policies.

Machine Learning & Predictive Analysis For IoT Implementation

Enterprise IoT implementation yields actionable insights and can affect automated reactions using intelligent algorithms. Machine learning and predictive analysis may become a critical requirement in the times to come. Hence, enough room for extensibility should be left for adding any new feature in the future.

An Intuitive Experience for Decision Makers

Typically, an enterprise IoT solution caters to operations managers and decision makers. Operations manager supervises the device layer. They send commands, control actuators, and monitor the devices. The maintenance and smooth operations of the devices come in their purview. On the other hand, decision makers are those who analyse the insights and to make the decisions. They access the dashboards and BI reports to take the right decision for the business.

Take One Step At A Time

The above factors are critical for enterprises to avoid any major pitfalls during development and implementation of IoT system. Success stories in enterprise IoT usually have companies working with IoT specialist firms in putting together systems that will yield increasingly high returns on investment over time.