IoT consist of smart connected objects that can be located everywhere in our home and our workplace. This technology can transfer data within a network without requiring any human interaction. By combining IoT data with cognitive computing, businesses can extract insights and thereby improve every aspect of their operations and enable innovation.
Achieving Success with Watson IoT Platform
“Aberdeen research has shown that businesses actively developing for the Internet of Things and utilizing effective integrations have the most capabilities and see the greatest benefits with their IoT deployments” (Aberdeen Group).
Throughout the last decade we have witnessed how the technology behind IoT has become less expensive which means all industries can afford to invest in it. Today we see IoT everywhere, in smartphones, wearables and a variety of other devices. These have become a crucial element in our everyday life, both for businesses and personal use. This impacts the business environment meaning that for a business to succeed, they need to focus on developing and deploying the right integration, tools, services and applications with IoT. The problem is often that businesses need to change their idea of IoT as a “thing” that cannot be altered or modified and instead reflect on how they can optimize their use of the applications and services that IoT can provide. The Aberdeen research shows that some of the most important factors that drives businesses to adopt IoT is: improved customer experience, cost reduction, revenue growth and faster time to market (Aberdeen Group). One of the biggest obstacles for businesses is that most devices don’t come with a lot of capabilities such as laptops, smartphones and other smart devices does. However, IBM believes that by taking the simplest functionalities that exist in most devices today and applying them to a business’s context, businesses will enable new and innovative initiatives. In order for businesses to succeed they should develop these capabilities, utilizing IoT devices efficiently.
Ready to engage with tomorrow’s customer using IoT?
In the last decade there has been a massive change in the customer journey, partly due to emerging technologies and digitization. Today’s consumers can shop from everywhere – at the couch at home, in between meetings or on the bus. Additionally, customers use a variety of channels. By gathering data from IoT devices, businesses can get a deeper insight into their customers and improve the customer experience. Let me provide you with the future picture of retail – as IoT can erase the lines between physical and digital shopping. Different kinds of devices and sensors connected and coupled with machine learning systems, are learning about our customer’s preferences. We already have sensors that automatically check customers and sensors that can detect facial expression. This will influence the way in which we can get a deeper insight into how customers react to different products which eventually will improve the customer’s shopping experience as it becomes more personal. IoT devices know the customer’s needs before they do. Today we are already witnessing frontrunners who are embedding the technology to a selection of smart devices in our home, such as smart refrigerators that through sensors order groceries, so you as a customer don’t have to spend valuable time and energy on shopping. Just think about the possibilities if we start making these devices intelligent in a more constructive perspective based on platform technology. By doing this we can learn even more about our customers and thereby create new innovative business models to fit future customer’s journey. It is sensor data intertwined with our physical existence across wearables, cars and much more that will ultimately drive programmatic commerce and transform today’s consumer’s experiences into connected points of sale.
How KONE utilized IBM Watson IoT platform
IBM has worked together with many customers worldwide to improve and optimize their business with IoT. An example is the global elevator and escalator company, KONE. Everyday KONE moves over a billion persons through their 1.1 million elevators and escalators in service and IBM Watson IoT is working with them to help ensure that passengers get the best ride every time. KONE’s elevators and escalators will be equipped with IoT sensors that are connected to the IBM cloud and then analyzed. By bringing intelligence into their services and analyzing data, IBM Watson IoT can predict potential problems and instantly inform the maintenance crew of any issues that may appear. The maintenance crew gets information about issues, causes, and potential solutions via their smartphone to help them run test remotely, the result is less downtime and fewer faults. Furthermore, IBM Watson IoT can analyze structured and unstructured data to help the crew prioritize jobs and thereby providing a better customer experience by having the elevators and escalators up and running much faster than previously. Due to the intelligent nature of IBM Watson IoT, it has the ability to learn from data and thereby continuously come up with better and more efficient solutions which supports KONE’s vision to deliver the best people flow experience to their users.
Not only will IoT applications enhance businesses and our personal comfort, IoT will also give us more control to simplify routine work life and personal tasks – so it’s just about seeking the opportunities before your competitors do.