During a recent joint panel at the Open Mobile Summit 2014 Conference, experts from Cisco, Google, OpenMarket and AnyPresence shared their views of what they believe are the challenges, companies interested in IoT will face. These are some of the highlights of their conversation:
- Technology challenge #1: Sensor connectivity: While sensors have evolved by leaps and bounds and are getting smarter and cheaper by the minute, the real challenges are now the lack of universal standards when it comes to connectivity. Connecting sensors together is, to this day, a complex undertaking that will need to be addressed for IoT to move to the next level.
- Technology challenge #2: Data volume Sensors are going to collect more and more data as they become part of our everyday life. This exponentially growing amount of data is creating a massive problem, as data will need to be stored, then analyzed and turned into valuable and actionable insights for the business. Organizations will need to find innovative ways to work with data but also massive capital investments to acquire the necessary analytical power to deal with that type of data volume.
- Transform Data into Business Outcomes: Gathering vast amount of data is a futile exercise if companies don’t have the capabilities to turn it into valuable insights. Insights that can be in turn converted in revenues or cost savings for the organization. Gathering data for the sake of data is pointless, after all.
- Build an Ecosystem: Every organization has their core competencies, be it manufacturing goods or providing services. When it comes to IoT, an entirely new set of skills is at play and organizations must recognize that they might not have the inherent abilities necessary to do everything. For instance, they might excel at producing specific goods but may struggle to figure out all the potential applications across all the industries for their products or the data generated. So the most successful organizations will be the ones that will enable and grow a strong developer ecosystem and let partners, customers, developers unlock the power of that data through APIs. Watch this webinar if you are interested in learning more about enabling modern developer ecosystems with APIs
- There is no Roadmap – Find out What Works for You: We are on unchartered territory, IoT is new and still rapidly evolving and there are no gold standards or how-to manual available to guide your effort. The key is to start and learn as your organization grows and expands on its IoT effort.
- Be User Driven: Last but not least advice, remember that this revolution should be user driven, not technology driven. Listen to what they have to say, hear from their experiences and it will guide your development effort in the right direction.
If you want to listen to the full Open Mobile Summit 2014 Conference panel on IoT, it is available on our Videos page.