For businesses in the Highland Lakes area, effective implementation of IoT can be a differentiating factor that can improve your business. According to Gartner Inc., by 2020, more than half of new businesses will include IoT in their business processes. When implemented correctly, the Internet of Things can increase an enterprise’s productivity and shave waste, create sustainable ecosystems, or increase revenue streams by informing data-driven business decisions.
Below are 5 simple steps to help determine whether IoT will improve your business processes.
- Choose an IoT Partner. Alone, you go fast, together, we go far. Choose a partner experienced in IoT implementation and benefit from collaboration and their experience. Implementing an out-of-the box solution with limited IoT knowledge and capacity cannot yield the same results as working with an experienced team. It takes three things to create an IoT solution: network connectivity, hardware, and an IoT platform.
- Start small on a specific business problem. Starting small allows you to get your feet wet and decide whether IoT technology can add value to your business by isolating a segment of your business and testing there.
- Define success. After you determine where to start, determine what success you would like for the project. Is it reducing cost? Is it reducing man-hours? Is improving customer experience? Depending on the goal, create a set of measureable metrics that indicate the success or failure of your pilot project.
- Choose a time-frame. Now that you have the problem to solve and the metrics to determine success, set a trial period that makes sense for your project and the information you want to gather. Some helpful time frames are 30-60-90 days.
- Learn fast. Learn often. In a recent survey of companies implementing IoT initiatives, 64 percent agreed that learning from stalled or failed IoT initiatives helped accelerate their organization’s investment in IoT. Regardless of the success or failure of the project, what you learn will help your business better understand its process.
HCTS is passionate about equipping businesses with the resources needed to maximize their potential. If you are considering integrating IoT into your business process, schedule a consultation to learn about all the possibilities available for you.
