IoT Strategy: Go-To Insights Universal for Any Industry

Dear LinkedIn Community,

Welcome back to Velvetech’s IT Talks!

Has your home already turned into a smart one? Or do your operational processes involve using intelligent devices? Chances are that IoT solutions have become part of your personal or work life. However, many businesses are still unaware of the connected devices' power or are hesitant about whether they are worth implementing.??

So, in today’s edition, we’ll answer the popular questions enterprises have regarding an IoT strategy. We’ll also unveil some of the essential nuances, which, we believe, will add more certainty for those stepping on the path of IoT development.????

Q1: What are the key triggers for implementing IoT in my business?

This a very natural question that reasonably comes to the minds of many business leaders. After all, just because some technology is on the rise doesn’t mean it will benefit your operations. So, before implementing an IoT product, one should understand how its potential will impact their case.

If you deal with production or service delivery, operational inefficiencies are something that you likely face from time to time. For example, you might need to automate repetitive tasks or reduce manual intervention. Some processes and equipment can require continuous monitoring. It’s also possible that your team has issues with predicting equipment failures or performing maintenance. All of that can be addressed with IoT solutions.

Another scenario where IoT can be of great help is cost reduction. Do you pursue wise energy consumption or the optimization of resources such as raw materials and labor? Well, these are exactly the reasons to adopt the Internet of Things.?

Read about IoT and Sustainability?

Additionally, if you want to enhance customer experience, IoT can help, too. How? By monitoring and maintaining product quality consistently or personalizing services and products based on customer behavior and preferences. And that’s not all!?

You know that IoT gathers oceans of data that you can (and should) leverage. Paired with advanced analytics, IoT paves the way for data-driven decision-making and better forecasting. It can be anything from demand and inventory to supply chain management.

Q2: How to elaborate on a comprehensive IoT strategy for my company?

We’re not going to talk here about how it is important to set the right goals, identify use cases, or find the right team as this is pretty obvious. Instead, let’s focus on the less evident things.?

Building a robust IoT strategy always requires assessing the readiness of your organization. And this is about several activities. First, evaluate the current infrastructure, technology stack, and skill sets. Additionally, conduct a feasibility study to evaluate the operational and financial viability of implementing a solution. All of that will help you determine gaps that need to be addressed.

As the next step, together with your team, you’re working on a roadmap with timelines for implementation phases and prioritizing the delivery based on ROI and feasibility. This is where things get technical and involve planning the architecture, including devices, IoT sensors, networks, cloud platforms, and data analytics tools. Basically, you define everything that your project will require.?

The rest is quite trivial and incorporates such steps as designing, integrating, and deploying your IoT system. Of course, you can always start with a pilot project, analyze results, and then gradually scale IoT implementation. Also, remember that a comprehensive IoT strategy comprises security measures and compliance with your industry regulations.

Q3: What are the best practices for integrating IoT into existing business processes?

Start Small

Previously, we said that you can always start small. And this is the first effective practice for successful IoT adoption. Begin with pilot projects to demonstrate value and learn and, based on successful pilot outcomes, go to full-scale deployment. This way, you can see how well your new IoT solution works with existing systems and whether it improves current processes as planned.

Focus on Data

While data is the heart of most IoT projects, it makes sense to ensure that you collect and manage it properly. There are various approaches that can help you deal with it. For example, data cleansing and data governance are good options here. Also, consider data warehousing solutions as they support advanced analytics and business intelligence.

Consider Interoperability

To get maximum value from an IoT system, you want it to be part of your IT infrastructure or at least connect seamlessly with the required components. For that, you need to keep in mind possible integrations well in advance. Ideally, it happens when your team elaborates on the project requirements and not when they’re already halfway through development.?

Train End Users

Don’t skip this part if you plan to give a long life to your IoT system. Whether you plan to launch an IoT solution to support your internal operations or an IoT product to generate revenue on the market — end users should be aware of its benefits and know how to leverage them.

Collaborate with the Right Vendor??

While you can find other good practices described in various sources, the key one will always remain the same. If you have a reliable team by your side, there’s little you should worry about. They will know the best approaches, potential pitfalls, a matching tech stack, and more. So, maybe a collaboration with an experienced vendor should have been the first in this row.?

Q4: What results should we expect first and when?

Hardly anyone will give you a solid answer to this question, and you know why. Every case is unique. However, there are some common early results and their typical timelines that we can highlight based on years of experience in the industry. So, let’s look at them.

Short-Term Results?

This is what you usually see within the first six months. To begin with, there are immediate insights into operations through real-time data collection from IoT sensors and devices. Then, you can also quickly benefit from improvements in efficiency and productivity through the automation of repetitive tasks and workflows.

What else? Well, as IoT-enabled predictive maintenance solutions identify potential equipment failures before they occur, you’ll achieve an initial reduction in unplanned downtime. And that will positively affect maintenance costs.

Medium-Term Results

Throughout the year you can expect to notice more significant improvements in operational efficiency as IoT systems optimize processes and resource usage. Advanced analytics will also bear fruit and provide deeper insights and actionable intelligence, leading to more informed decision-making and forecasting.

Additionally, this is also the time when customer satisfaction grows due to improved product quality, faster response times, and better service delivery.?

Long-Term Results

Good things come to those who wait. After a year or so, even more tangible results appear on the surface. Here we can name a few strategic benefits like gaining a competitive advantage and innovation and growth. On top of that, sustained process optimization, resource efficiency, and predictive maintenance significantly reduce operational costs.

During this period, businesses tap into enhanced agility. Now, they can respond to market changes, customer demands, and new opportunities quickly and effectively.

So, as you can see, there’s no lack of value at any time. Once again, it all depends on your scenario, but rest assured you’ll get your piece of the pie.??

Q5: What industries are seeing the most significant ROI from IoT investments?

If you think there are not many, you are wrong. Manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, transportation and logistics, energy, and retail all thrive on IoT implementation. A good way to answer this question will be to show how and why well-known companies across various fields invest in IoT.???

The manufacturing industry is one of the biggest beneficiaries of IoT technology. For example, General Electric and Siemens have been using IoT for quite a while. Through predictive maintenance and real-time monitoring, they optimize processes, reduce downtime, and improve product quality.?

Discover more about IoT in Manufacturing

If we take a look at the medical sector, we’ll see that healthcare IoT is transforming patient care and operational management. Medtronic and Philips Healthcare are at the forefront, using IoT devices for remote patient monitoring, asset tracking, and enhancing hospital operations.

On the other hand, the agricultural industry is leveraging connected devices for precision farming and livestock monitoring. With IoT sensors, companies like John Deere and CropX monitor soil conditions, weather, and crop health, which helps farmers make data-driven decisions.

IoT in retail allows giants like Amazon and Walmart to enhance inventory management and the customer shopping experience. And you’ve probably heard that in logistics, UPS and DHL use the Internet of Things to track vehicles, monitor the condition of goods in transit, and optimize delivery routes.?

Find Your Way to Leverage IoT

We hope that the complexity of the IoT field doesn’t stop you from reaping its benefits and successful use cases mentioned above inspire you to walk the road. In most cases, there’s surely a way IoT can help address your operational needs. It just takes a robust strategy and a reliable team to support you.

If you haven’t found a trusted partner yet, Velvetech can become the one to help you with your project. From IoT consulting to development and deployment, our team will get you covered. Reach out to us for any assistance, and stay tuned for the upcoming newsletters.