Demystifying The Internet of Things

The Internet of Things is now a common term used by analysts, businesses and the media for some time now. However not everyone knows exactly what it is, why it is important to an overall business strategy or the benefits it can bring to customers, let alone being able to implement it seamlessly whilst carrying on with the every-day running of a business.

By connecting machines, devices, objects and even living beings to the internet,  real time analysis of those ‘things’ can open up a new range of possibilities to a business, from how they operate and grow, to how they can increase customer satisfaction.

Businesses around the world are recognising the benefits that come with adopting IoT into their business strategy, with 76% of companies considering IoT to be ‘critical’ for the future success of any organisation in their sector (Vodafone Barometer 2016).

All of this sounds great, but where do you actually start, especially if your organisation is not structured in a way to implement this technology? There are some key things to consider and investigate before committing time, budget and resource to a new IoT project.

Do you have a business strategy? Changing your whole business could seem ambitious however by creating a steering committee, identifying a business need to create a project with IoT in mind with some allocated budget and resource is a good place to begin. Organisations that commit and make IoT central to their overall strategy are those who see the greatest ROI

Are your C-Levels on board? Organisations that do well with IoT projects are those who have a C-level champion. Identify key people in your organisation to work together to deliver a new business model and influence and co-ordinate the cultural and process changes that IoT will bring. By bringing in a C-level advocate will pull different parts of the organisation together and drive the transformation

Build in security from the beginning. Ensure that policies and products are in place when you are ready to go live with your IoT project and understand any potential risks so you are able to react quickly. IoT projects should have security from end-to-end and so checking and testing before going live with any project is just as important as maximising ROI.

Explore the ecosystem. Identify and work with specialist providers who understand your industry and can support you through your IoT adoption.

To help customers and businesses get started with IoT, Vodafone has put together an IoT Business Case Advisor page, collating case studies across different industries, independent analyst insights and the Vodafone IoT Barometer report. It also highlights best practices in getting started with IoT and answers frequently asked questions to demystify the IoT. Visit the IoT Business Case Advisor page here (link)

If you have further questions or would like to learn more about IoT, please contact iot@vodafone.com.