Simplifying IoT

Kontakt.io has just announced Simon AI, the next-generation location and sensor analytics for operational users. In this article, I’ll cover why there’s a market need to simplify location IoT and how we fulfil it with our new out-of-the-box solution.

Location-based IoT: A data engine with the brakes on

Look around you and you’ll see that we are quickly approaching a time where data is captured with every interaction machines, software, and humans have. The future of the location-focused Internet of Things (IoT) is promising: the location and sensor data is being captured at ever growing rates, bringing enormous value to the global economy.

Since the dawn of the digital age, we have witnessed rapid economic progress fuelled by the ability to easily gather and analyze this data. There is, however, one major caveat: this data-fuel has been largely limited to operations that were already digital.

Location IoT brings the power of data to areas where it was previously unavailable in the physical world. By digitizing physical assets and workflows, we can deliver business value and cost reductions at significant scale for industries and consumers alike. Think about manufacturing or warehousing, where location and sensor data enables site managers to get operational insights they wouldn’t be able to obtain otherwise. Transparent workflows and people and asset visibility enable them to understand the time it takes to perform certain activities, the flow of assets across their facilities, the reasons for downtime or accidents, and more. As a result, they can prevent accidents, reduce damage, and minimize inefficiencies.

Despite this potential, a staggering 75% of IoT projects fail. It looks like that while IoT is rolling out en masse, it’s doing so with the brakes still on. Why is that?

Deploying IoT solutions is complex...

The main reason why IoT projects are failing at high rates is that they are complex. As the global leader in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, with over one millions beacons under management, we have seen our fair share of incredibly complex solutions trying to achieve a simple goal. 

This complexity is exacerbated by the fragmentation of the applications with marketing-skewed value propositions and infrastructure challenges. Among these challenges are a segmented device market, the lack of compatibility between different proprietary standards (e.g. your device can’t talk to an Access Point), security, closed networks, as well as individual configuration and calibration requirements.

Another reason is the fact that IoT solution providers operate on a project basis, treating each deployment as a unique event. Project management teams are distracted by a laundry list of presumably unique variables dictated by this one specific deployment environment. The involvement of different departments to evaluate, integrate and decide slows down the process and makes it prone to error and procedural road blocks.

Couple that with a general lack of management experience and it quickly becomes apparent why IoT projects can be a risky business, often before they have even started.

Having all of these in mind, it is no surprise that it’s been mostly enterprise-level companies exploring IoT potentials. Resource-, time-, and ROI-wise, IoT simply doesn’t make sense for smaller players.

… and has yet to unlock network effects

Missing network effects due to customer specific data-silos is another problem that is limiting success and adoption rates. How can the insights gained in one deployment independently help customers in another to succeed as well? How can data from multiple sources be drawn together to unleash the power of correlation and prediction? How can this insight be leveraged to expand and enhance its own findings? How can it be refined and improved across entire use cases or verticals?

Currently the success of each individual project largely depends on the people involved and their unique knowledge. This presents a significant barrier to newcomers with little IoT experience, as success becomes a matter of chance and is by no means repeatable.

Kontakt.io is simplifying IoT

If complexity and data-silos are what holds back IoT success, we are here to solve it.

We are one of the few companies that span the entire IoT technology stack. Our open and modular infrastructure already simplifies IoT management and deployments for location-based solution and application providers. It consists of the three layers required to run an IoT project: the Core API and Cloud Middleware, the Connectivity layer, and the Device layer. 

We’re BLE-first. Bluetooth is by nature a simple and versatile standard, run on affordable and power-efficient devices and supported by various ecosystems, from mobile to LAN. Its adoption in business applications is growing at exponential rates, and it’s playing a major role in simplifying IoT and bringing down Total Cost of Ownership of IoT projects.

Together, the three layers create a robust foundation for a variety of applications, including location-based content, indoor positioning and wayfinding, asset tracking (RTLS), safety and security, and condition monitoring.

Now we’re moving one step forward and simplifying IoT for the end customer as well, from data to infrastructure; from sales engagement to rollout. Adding a final application on top of our infrastructure means we can deliver an end-to-end solution, with all the layers integrated out-of-the-box.

The process of selling and deploying IoT solutions is becoming no more complicated than buying and using consumer electronics. After all, this is what Bluetooth was built for.

Release the breaks, full steam ahead

We believe that it is this simplicity that will unlock much of the potential of location IoT. Simplifying IoT means bringing down costs, speeding up installations, and delivering location and sensor insights to actual stakeholders, bypassing IT and data departments.

As a result, IoT is no longer just for the enterprise and can finally roll out at full scale, embracing all players, big and small, globally. It no longer has to be the domain of “technical” departments, and can drive business outcomes for its actual stakeholders: plant and warehouse managers, along with others involved in various aspects of operations, finances, risk management and human resources and more.

Simon AI is on the cutting edge of this frontier. Join us on our journey of reshaping the Internet of Things and find out more at getsimon.ai.