IoT has the potential to unlock vast business opportunities across the world, worth billions of pounds. As more and more businesses realise the potential of intelligently integrating IoT devices and applications into their operations, the opportunities simply increase.
Let’s take a look at some of the key trends and strategies surrounding IoT in business today.
Emerging IoT Trends in Business
It’s an exciting time for the future of IoT and emerging trends are continually popping up. There are advancements in edge computing, alongside AI integration, industry specific solutions, enhanced data analytics and 5G connectivity.
Edge Computing and Decentralised IoT Architectures
Edge computing is a key emerging IoT trend in business in 2023. It relates to a decentralised, distributed computing infrastructure that has evolved alongside the rapid rise in IoT.
With IoT devices generating data that requires rapid processing and benefits from real time analysis, the use of edge computing is set to really take off.
Many experts are predicting that the future of IoT architectures is decentralised with an infrastructure that will enable different nodes dispersed in different places, to perform tasks autonomously.
Integration of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
When you start to consider the potential for the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning, you’ll probably start to quickly identify key areas where your business could benefit.
AI enabled IoT can create machines that are more intelligent than ever previously seen. Machines benefiting from the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning can simulate smart behaviour and benefit from an impressive level of decision making - without the need for human intervention.
Expansion of IoT in Industry-specific Applications
In order to get a sense of the business opportunities which IoT can unlock, it’s useful to view it in the context of different industries.
Industry specific applications of IoT include:
Within Agriculture
- Agricultural drones for jobs such as land imaging and soil monitoring
- Devices to monitor climate control
- Systems to enable greenhouse automation
Within Energy
- Grid balancing
- Load forecasting
Within Finance
- Interactive credit card use
- Improved banking experience
Within Retail
- Improved supply chain management
- Expansion from automated checkouts into fully automated stores
Within Hospitality
- Offer capability for guests to control variables such as room temperature
- Improved customer service by tracking preferences or using data from previous stays
IoT Strategies for Business Success
There’s no doubt that IoT strategies can lead to business success. From increased productivity, to a reduction in wasted resources, the benefits are wide ranging and exciting.
Developing a Comprehensive IoT Adoption Plan
Keen to harness the power of IoT within your business? In order to develop a comprehensive IoT adoption plan it’s essential to consider each of the following phases carefully.
The three IoT adoption phases are interconnected on multiple levels:
- Visibility: this relates to companies collecting data in order to perform monitoring and detection
- Discovery: this phase is where companies can analyse the data and use it to gain insights that may drive changes to products and services
- Transformation: businesses can dramatically change the way that they operate after using IoT technology and devices.
Choosing the Right IoT Platforms and Technologies
When it comes to choosing the right IoT platforms and the technologies best suited to your needs, think carefully about the specifics of your business.
Some factors you’ll want to consider include:
- The type of business and industry you are in
- Your current resources and how much you can financially dedicate to IoT devices
- Security and Privacy issues and how you will protect your customer and their data
- Connectivity
- Hardware
Building Collaborative Partnerships and Ecosystems
IoT brings with it an enormous potential to build collaborative partnerships and global ecosystems. The ecosystems referred to encompass the elements of infrastructure, hardware and software.
In order to make collaborative partnerships and ecosystems, it’s important to establish connections between multiple businesses and individuals in order to find ways to work together to make progress.
When you consider predictions that IoT could have an annual economic impact of $3.9 trillion to $11.1 trillion by 2025, it’s essential to start working to unlock business opportunities that simply may not have existed to you before.
At Glide, we want to enable you to do this and achieve the best possible results for your business.
