IoT for the Enterprise:
From Prototypes to Production
Jeff Maynard
Business and technology leaders must provide a clear
set of processes for IoT solutions to move from concept
all the way to a deployed and supported solution.
The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of those technological waves that is both
exciting to experiment with and potentially frightening to miss out on. This
often leads to what Scott Udell, VP of IoT Solutions at CTP, refers to as ‘random
acts of IoT’, accomplished while companies try to figure out what it means to
their business.
While this experimental approach is traditionally good for validating concepts
or ideas of how IoT can solve a business problem or be used to monetize oppor-
tunities outside the immediate customer base, many companies fail to move
from the prototype or Proof of Concept (PoC) stage to a full-blown deploy-
ment. Why? Most companies fail to design an enterprise-level enablement and
deployment framework for these experimental operations. This framework
should be jointly created by business and technology leaders and provide a
clear set of processes for IoT solutions to move from concept all the way to a
deployed and supported solution. Many times these IoT experiments only have
support from one side of the enterprise, either technology (majority of cases)
or business, but rarely both. Because of this, IoT is often seen to be wholly
owned by technology and lacks a direct connection to a business problem until
further in its lifecycle when technology needs to justify the solution before
continuing.
The IoT Sandbox
At the most successful IoT-enabled companies, you see a clear joint ownership
and strategy model between technology and business. The IoT ‘sandbox’ that is
created is based on the business’ needs and compliance requirements, as well
as products and services that have been initially validated by the technology
side of the house. Once the sandbox is up and running, the experiments
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