Re-imagining The World With IoT

Internet of Things (IoT) is the most talked about technology trend in the Industry today. The possibilities that emerge with machine to machine interaction are numerous. Analysts predict IoT to re-define business models and standard operations practice in the coming years. A plethora of devices ranging from smart watches, fitness monitors to driverless cars have been introduced in the consumer space. However, the bigger impact will be felt when the industry leverages on the strength of IoT and businesses derive significant benefits on their logistics, financials and operations.

Today, there are limited examples of businesses who have had the courage to re-structure around this technology to achieve the promised benefits. IoT adoption is presently limited to the service and maintenance space where users are able to achieve remote operations monitoring to ensure better crisis handling and quicker turnaround times.

However, a question that is often asked is "Is this trend going to really live up to the hype which it has created?"

Challenges
In the industry today, three main stakeholders influence the use of IoT technology. First, the legacy software and network providers who run the business operations - the backbone of the industry. These companies have adjusted their platforms and underlying technology layers to enable interaction between sensors and machines with core software systems which eases out data collection and sharing between devices in an optimal manner.

The second stakeholders are the partner ecosystem which brings in the technology flavor into the industries and provide intelligence on IoT devices and their relevance in business scenarios. However, they are restricted to innovate in the space defined within the specifications provided by their business counterparts. They don't have the liberty to redefine business processes as this is governed by the business users.

The third and the most important stakeholders are the businesses themselves. Deriving financial benefits out of IoT technology needs much more than reading and extracting data out of a sensor. It requires business users to re-imagine the way they can execute their operations. To unleash the real potential of IoT and to realize the full benefit, a concerted effort is required from all stakeholders who today are innovating in their own space.

Success with Business Benefits
Some organizations have achieved fantastic results with the use of this technology. A case in point being the Hamburg Port Authority. As Europe's second largest port, handling 10,000 ships and nine million containers every year, the Hamburg port has severe space constraints and a growing ship traffic. It therefore became crucial to ensure that only the needed resources (trucks, people and containers) enter the port premises at the appropriate time.

Through the effective use of smart sensors and the right platform, the port has connected the ships, containers, cranes and even the traffic control systems. For example, when a ship enters port, the bridges open up automatically and a message is generated and sent to all the necessary resources to enter port. Even the parking slots are made available automatically to the right vehicles.

This was possible because the authority put out a vision to transform their operations around the new technology, the partner ecosystem came up with the right implementation blueprint and the software provider the required platform.

Mindset Shift
IoT is here to stay! This means that with time, applications which were originally consumed by humans will be consumed by machines. Machines and devices would become the primary users of business applications. The biggest mistake however would be to look at IoT in isolation and expect it to change the world. High speed processors, in-memory database and IoT are the carriers of transformation in this new world. These technology pieces when put together in the right form will create a completely different breed of applications and define tomorrow's market leaders. The technology is ready and the potential is immense. Re-thinking business models and operations is a thing of the past, today we have to start re-imagining them!