Why business leaders should think holistically about IoT

Australia is one of the highest per-capita spenders on the Internet of Things (IoT) in the Asia Pacific region, according to analysts at IDC.

But are Australian organisations spending that money wisely?

“Before moving forward with an IoT solution, business leaders must be crystal clear on the purpose and goals, with a long-term view of how they will leverage the technology to drive business value,” warns Shirley Strachan, General Manager, IoT Device Experience, Microsoft APAC.

Strachan helps Microsoft partners bring digital transformation to organisations across Asia. She will be an opening speaker at Microsoft’s no-cost IoT in Action event for customers and partners in Sydney on March 19, 2019. Event sessions will focus on using IoT to exponentially improve revenue, profitability and customer and employee experiences as well as opportunities to create new lines of business and revenue streams.

“Where I’ve seen IoT succeed is when people have taken the time to think it all the way through,” Strachan says.

Building an ecosystem She urges business leaders to think holistically about the use cases and outcomes of IoT projects. For instance, an organisation wanting to reduce energy usage might go beyond temperature sensors to track when people use rooms, lighting and air conditioning.

Strachan says it’s important to think about connected devices as part of an ecosystem, rather than treating them as isolated components. For example, retailers that combine data from point-of-sale terminals with information from cameras monitoring customer movement can measure the success of changes to store layouts or digital signage.

“Only by tying together all that information and connecting the dots across all those solutions – and more specifically the data – can you truly drive digital transformation,” Strachan says.

Bringing it all together Strachan points to thyssenkrupp Elevator as a company that’s created a broad, connected IoT ecosystem. It began its IoT journey by monitoring elevator systems to predict repairs.