What are the top three barriers to IoT implementation? how to respond?

Implementation of IoT initiatives often encounters three major challenges: failure to establish a clearly defined business case, lack of personnel suitable to manage IoT initiatives, and inability to connect, collect, and understand data.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is the foundation of the contemporary digital business world. A recent study shows that IoT implementation is a top priority for the vast majority of enterprises. In fact, 25% respondents rated this as the most important initiative, even higher than increasing production capacity, increasing revenue, or launching new products and services.

However, successfully implementing and integrating IoT into your business is not as easy as you think. In a survey by research firm Vanson Bourne, 90% respondents said their organizations are facing challenges and obstacles.

So, what are the three common pitfalls that hinder successful IoT implementation, and how can we effectively overcome these obstacles? The answer will be given below.

1. Failure to build a clearly defined business case

It is important not to pursue IoT initiatives for the sake of pursuing IoT itself. To get real business value from an IoT project, you need to build a persuasive case for why an organization needs an IoT project. This helps organizations discern what is the ultimate goal (for example, improving efficiency, productivity or profitability) and which data is most important. Otherwise, it is difficult to determine what program success looks like, to measure progress toward program goals, and to figure out what is working or what needs to change in order to accomplish goals.

2. Lack of suitable personnel

IoT requires a team of IT and operations experts working together. While each member will be able to leverage IoT to help the overall business gain benefits, their different backgrounds (technical, operational, management, etc.) will help answer questions about IoT deployment goals, how the team should approach deployment, and what constitutes success. key issues. The best teams will include people with strong technical knowledge as well as people with a deep understanding of business processes and the company's bottom-line goals.

In fact, many organizations are now creating Centers of Excellence (CoEs) to support their IoT implementations. At the core of the CoE is a central management structure that provides leadership, best practice and support for any business activity. The CoE also allows these disparate technical and operational teams to quickly align on plans and openly collaborate, discuss, and sort out any roadblocks or challenges encountered along the way. Once you have identified the individuals who should be involved in the IoT project, it is wise to immediately set up a CoE to ensure the project stays on track and delivers the best possible results.

3. Inability to connect, collect and understand data

Everything in the IoT ecosystem has value. From connected forklifts to wristbands and smart buildings, each has a data layer. To gain value from the vast amounts of structured and unstructured data generated by connected devices, organizations must have the right systems in place to ensure they can collect, process and subsequently act on this data.

When organizations start working on IoT projects, they often assume device connectivity. In fact, this is not the case, especially as more and more devices are connected together, making the IoT ecosystem more complex.

To get a simple idea of what it looks like, we can imagine a connected chainsaw. As a function of a chainsaw, a certain current stretching pattern results every time a cut is made, and this can be used to count the number of cuts the saw makes. When businesses notice excessive electrical current, it can be an early indicator that the blades are starting to wear out. When this data is integrated into the business's operating system, it triggers an event so that additional blades can be ordered in a timely manner, thus avoiding machine downtime. Enabling businesses to order on time is just one of many examples of how IoT can help improve overall equipment efficiency. Another example includes how, by sharing information obtained from sensors, machine operators can optimize equipment performance and be able to use tools more efficiently at optimal angles, temperatures and spacing.

Let’s take another example of a connected motor. As a function of the motor, data collected from motor sensors can let companies know when a motor will fail and predict when it will need repair or fixing.

Imagine the same electric motor installed in an elevator equipped with IoT sensors. The sensors record how often the elevator is used, as well as the times of day when the elevator is most used. Using the combined data from both devices, organizations can schedule preventive maintenance testing based on when the motor is likely to fail, and they can perform maintenance at a time with minimal impact.

However, as organizations add more devices to their ecosystems, it often happens that a variety of different solutions are needed to connect all these data pools together. As the IoT ecosystem evolves, it is important to leverage a comprehensive platform that enables data to flow between all connected devices. This enables business leaders to better analyze data, determine which data adds business value, and then integrate that data across the organization.

Ultimately, successful IoT implementation comes down to smart data processing. Organizations that accurately understand the goals of their IoT initiatives, including who is the best person to make it happen and the importance of enabling device connectivity in order to identify and act on the right data, will win.

Original author: Yasir Qureshi

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