Five worthy reads is a regular column on five noteworthy items we’ve discovered while researching trending and timeless topics. This week, we address the steady adoption of IoT across enterprises.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is ultimately all about data, regardless of the vertical it’s being deployed in—from smart assistance to smart cities, from single processes to enterprise workflows, from fitness trackers to complex healthcare automations. According to Bain & Company, by 2021 the IoT sector might see a meteoric rise to a near $520 billion market. Clearly, IoT is enjoying its fair share of growth and predictions for the near future.
While it’s mostly intelligent devices that hog the spotlight, a new buzzword is floating around in the business corridors—enterprise IoT. Enterprise IoT is all about connecting devices, proactive monitoring, and the intelligent management of enterprise workflows, products, and services.
Enterprises with products, services, and processes supported by business management systems—such as ERP, CRM, and SCM—are in the process of optimising their workflows using the “connectedness” of their business assets and verticals. In conjunction, enterprises believe that bringing a close-knit integration between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) will be a cost-effective and smart proposition, and can ensure that user and device needs are met in a secure, reliable, and efficient manner.
With these units connected and exchanging data, enterprises are not only able to monitor and manage business processes, but also use and learn from the data to analyse end-user behaviour, as well as detect and preempt potential incidents using pattern-based triggers.
That being said, here are few interesting reads around enterprise IoT, its business impact, and the challenges involved in employing it across verticals.
1. Preparing your enterprise for IoT and automation in the workplace
This article explores key findings, recommendations, and business-critical areas to understand when planning, refining, or implementing IoT systems.
2. Bridging the gap between IoT and the enterprise
IoT is making manufacturing, transportation, healthcare, and many other verticals smarter. This is self-evident at this point, as we see new use cases pop up every day. While this is hugely exciting, one area that seems to be lacking in the IoT movement is strong champions within traditional enterprise roles.
3. The Role of Artificial Intelligence in IoT and OT Security
As the modern threat landscape continues to expand, adding artificial intelligence (AI) to a security strategy has become paramount to establishing and maintaining an effective security posture.
4. Lessons From IoT Early Adopters
Early adopters of IoT are working through the challenges of implementation to deliver compelling business value.
5. How enterprises can get more out of their IoT
It’s IoT, but with an enterprise angle. IoT can be applied to almost any aspect of business, including applications, development ecosystems, product design, hardware, and deployment.
Having a firm vision of where an organisation is headed with its IoT initiatives entails strategic forethought across several domains. And there are challenges that are yet to be discovered. While it might seem that a clear strategy will put your enterprise on the path to greater business productivity, your business must also come up with a contingency plan to make do during trying times, since different facets of IoT are at different stages of maturity.
To summarise, an IoT-enabled business can exceed expectations when it comes to providing new experiences for customers, effective revenue models and business processes, and cost-savings. We hope these five worthy reads help you ensure your organisation reaps all these benefits of enterprise IoT.
