It's all about the money with IoT

Business is all that matters

I believe that companies rightfully see IoT as a business solution first and foremost. Whilst the technical brilliance of an IOT solution may create gasps of amazement, it’s utterly useless unless the CEO buys into the merits of a smart system that can show real measurable total cost of ownership and return on investment.  The primary driver of any implementation must originate from a company vision of what IoT can do to help solve real business needs.

 A fragmented, busy landscape is delaying adoption

My own market research tells me that companies are following one of two approaches. They are either trying to figure out who they should engage with so they can design a solution in-house for their own IoT implementation or they are trying to identify, assess and contract a single systems integrator to provide an end-to-end solution. Neither path is easy due to the fragmented and very busy IoT marketplace out there, made up of hundreds of IoT platforms, sensor manufacturers, IoT system integrators, IoT independent software vendor’s (ISV’s), telco carriers and even software defined network companies (SDNs). Another complication is that, with the IoT being such a buzzword, many vendors will claim it, so it takes due diligence to verify the real value-add solutions.

 We have to make it simpler

For sure, the IoT stack is complex with many different layers of devices and software in place to ensure the meaningful capture of data, coming from sensors through to accessing external data sources.  The problem is that this complexity is driving a level of scepticism and delay with companies spending too much time trying to understand the complex landscape and getting frustrated in the process.

We have to work collectively as an industry to make things simpler. While the operational world of machine-to-machine has begun to recognise that IT has a vital role to play, we still have a way to go before both sides accept that true partnership can benefit both domains. Of course, no one company can provide an end-to-end solution, but we have to remove the confusion and make implementation an easier proposition. I believe that delivery has to be integrated and driven via one single systems integrator or company, even though they will, of course, be working behind the scenes with other experts.  This is exactly the reason why Dell set up an IoT Solutions partner program, where we work with technology experts like Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and System Integrators (Sis).  It’s all about collaborating together to advance individual “ingredients” into customer-focused designs.

 Predictive analytics

My own recent attendance at the Industrial IoT Summit made it clear that while companies appreciate conceptually what ‘smart’ means, to realise “smart” in practical terms is a horse of a different colour. While it’s early days, we are now increasingly seeing an interest in predictive maintenance (PdM). This is about not only predicting what machinery failure is likely to happen, but also why it will happen as well as providing recommendations about what actions you should take. 

 Going back to company strategy and organisational change, this is an important development.  We all know that without firm data, it is impossible to propose a change in strategy or deliver organisational or process improvement. I believe that predictive maintenance will deliver increased value to the business bottom line and convince many CEOs that the time is right to embrace IoT. At the end of the day, adoption will all boil down to opex and capex considerations with the incentive of monetisation and profitability driving investment.

 Human resource implications

 Of course, there are challenges associated with human-to-machine interfaces. For example, take a work crew or team that moves from a descriptive, reactive environment to one that now predicts the future and you have to factor in different job practices. This very notion has a direct impact on how you recruit, train or retrain teams to work on a manufacturing line or when to provide maintenance to a machine before it actually breaks down.

 Listening to the system itself becomes key. Balancing human insights with machine learning (AI) becomes a new training challenge. Team members will have to be retrained to deal with a PdM process versus scheduled maintenance. Partners that service equipment will have to accept new ways to operate within a PdM environment that drives them not the other way around.  This all means changed working practices, a different approach to training, new processes and new support models.

 Dell recognises that in order to address true innovation as a global IT company, we  must work with partners to create the blueprints for system integrators to provide a single end-to-end IoT implementation that is simple, sustainable, scalable and repeatable.  Opportunities increase for everyone when we help each other to succeed.

Share your views and experiences.  I would love to hear your comments and questions.

 Keep in touch about ongoing developments in the Internet of Things. Join our LinkedIn IoT Showcase page (https://www.dhirubhai.net/company/dell-internet-of-things)

 Learn more about Dell Iot Solutions: https://www.dell.com/iot

Learn more about Dell’s IoT Partner Program: https://www.delliotpartners.com/

Download Dell’s Predictive Maintenance Blueprint:

(https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/shared-content/data-sheets/en/Documents/DELL_PdM_Blueprint_Final_April_8_2016.pdf)

Learn more about the Dell OEM IoT Lab, a dedicated space for customers to build, model, architect, and test their IoT solutions:

https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/learn/internet-of-things-solutions