Factors to Consider While Laying Out an IoT Strategy
Posted by Anika Dixit on October 30th, 2019
The industry 4.0 era has taken the world by storm. More and more companies are looking forward to leveraging the fruits of digitalization. It’s but evident that any business unwilling to take the transformation ride and remain in the chasms of outdated technologies and services would be outrun by ‘tech-savvy’ competitors. Be it AI, Data, Cloud, or even IOT, firms are hence fast adopting these technologies and related services for better growth and faster customer acquisition.
The Internet of Things or IOT is one technology that has revolutionized manufacturing, mechanical, and related industries. In addition to that, supply chain management, hospitality management, medical servicing, have also been disrupted through the powerful usage of IoT paired with data and intelligence. Be it IoT technology providers, IoT software and service developers, or IOT adopters-it has sparked a new industry together where each segment of a business is connected and management takes data-driven decisions. Industry 4.0 consulting firms belong to yet another category that is harnessing the positive business impact of the ‘IOT Industry’. From the development of technologies, service provision, implementation, to final support, these companies are assisting organizations to streamline IoT transformation without compromising existing workflow, infrastructure assets, and security standards.
Having established the importance of IoT-driven approach for firms, here are some of the factors that must be considered while implementing an IOT strategy-
Seamless Data Management
A business’ existing infrastructure already contains a plethora of data that are essential for day to day operational management. While laying out a new IoT strategy with new devices-supply chain management for example–it’s important to seamlessly connect that new dataflow with the existing data flow. This merging of existing infrastructure informational output and the IoT informational output to create streamlined visibility for firms is an utmost necessity. Relevant data administration layers, protocols, cloud solutions, etc need to be adopted for that purpose.
Security Analysis
More devices mean more susceptibility to hack. Hence, while implementing a strong IoT network for a certain department or all departments, an equally strong security layer or security solutions need to be adopted so that the new informational output is safe and can be easily accessed. Privacy levels of data access need to be established too. Industry 4.0 consulting companies can be of great help to provide and implement the add-on services (Security, dataflow management) once an IoT strategy is adopted by a firm.
Risk Management
No doubt, the digital technology world is a two-edged sword. While it’s extremely necessary for firms to adopt digital technologies to stay market-relevant, these also create new chances of risk. Barring security concerns like data hacks, phishing attacks, infrastructure breakdown can also give a death blow to organizations. Once IoT systems are adopted by firms, the entire operational management or enterprise management gets centred on that technology. Hence, a breakdown in the same due to different reasons could cost dear. It’s important, therefore, to implement solutions that continually check the health of these technologies, assess their risk postures, and have proper risk/contingency plans in place so that businesses remain resilient at all times. Resiliency, in today’s era of ever-happening fluctuations and disruptions, is one of the most important requisites for a firm.
