Much of what’s been talked about so far seems, at first glance, to lie far off in the possible future. But, as most experts point out, the Internet of Things is already here. While adoption barriers may affect the pace with which widespread adoption of IoT technologies occurs, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that the transition to a hyper-connected economy is inevitable. The question then is, how does an organization transition from where it stands today, with varying levels of integration with digital technologies, to this hyperconnected future?
Starting from Business Fundamentals
As with any other business development scenario, the first step to a transition to the Internet of Things is to get to the heart of the business problem. After all, IoT technology is only an enabler, and the success or failure of IoT adoption will depend on the strength of the business model backing it. What is different about IoT technology, however, is the qualitative shift it offers.
This means that organizations should not look to merely tack on IoT technology to their existing processes, but should proactively plan for the development of entirely new business models. This process starts with developing use cases for the adoption of digital assets across the span of the enterprise and generating ranges of new business and operations procedures based on the possibilities of new data and new analytic capabilities.1
Defining and Committing Resources to the IoT Transition
Once a comprehensive understanding of the new possibilities has been arrived at, resource investments and infrastructure upgrades are the next step. This involves upgrading both the technological and the human infrastructure. While the company’s IT infrastructure and data-analytics capabilities take top priority, companies shouldn’t shy away from making the possibility of networking the complete length and breadth of their electronic infrastructure.
The human investment will come in the form of both training and educating existing employees to help them make the IoT shift, and realigning recruitment priorities towards locating talent that is firmly grounded in the new technological directions.
Building Processes with Scalability and Security in Mind
The rapid and multiplicative nature of IoT transitions means that course correction is a challenging process. Thus, while companies should start their transitions with small and manageable processes before scaling up, the inevitability of scaling up to greater complexities should always be kept in mind. Thus, enterprises need to build in capabilities for larger scale and greater complexity, particularly of the security infrastructure at every step of the transition. A Verizon report captures the mantra for scalability perfectly when it says, “Start Small, Think Big, Scale Fast”.2
Realigning the Organization
As thoroughgoing as the changes promised by IoT technologies are going to be, organizations cannot approach the transition with a business-as-usual understanding of the enterprise architecture and culture. One of the key shifts in thinking involved is the understanding that an IoT transition is not merely an IT transition, it involves every level of the enterprise and is going to require an agile and flexible approach to operations management, as new business unit structures will have to be evolved to grow new lines of business, develop new channels of monetization and leverage new expertise in technology and analytics.3
References
[1] “How to Get Ready for the Internet of Things”, Network Computing,
http://www.networkcomputing.com/infrastructure/how-get-ready-internet-things/618247417
[2] State of the Market: The Internet of Things 2015, Verizon, http://www.verizonenterprise.com/resources/reports/rp_state-of-market-the-market-the-internet-of-things-2015_en_xg.pdf
[3] “Is Your Business Ready for the Internet of Things?”, Spencer Stuart,
https://www.spencerstuart.com/research-and-insight/is-your-business-ready-for-the-internet-of-things
