Global
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a vast field. It encompasses a wide range of goods, from televisions, watches, biomedical devices, and cars to industrial devices, such as oil pumps, gas turbines, and airplane engines. The industries affected range from Telecommunications to Manufacturing, Retail to Healthcare, and everything in between. The myriad solutions within such a complex ecosystem can seem overwhelming. However, as it turns out, there are common business themes and use cases within IoT that run across industries and devices.
We at Ness call this collection of business propositions the “Smart Machines” Domain. These solutions fall into two general areas: Operational and Strategic.
Operational: Whether we are discussing gas turbines, cleaning equipment or hospital devices, there are certain operational activities that add immediate value. Predictive Analytics for end of device life and Condition-based Maintenance add value regardless of device and industry. These solutions reduce cost across the board and improve customer service. For example, predicting the failure/maintenance needs of airline engines reduces flight delays and cancellations; or predicting the failure/maintenance needs of ATMs improves uptime and thus customer satisfaction. Another operational solution is the Smart Routing of service personnel and equipment. Closely tied to Condition-based Maintenance, Smart Routing improves the efficiency of scheduling often scarce maintenance resources and reduces cost by minimizing overtime of service personnel and improving device availability.
Strategic: The possibilities for strategic solutions using IoT data are practically endless. Information- based products are built utilizing the insights gleaned from the treasure trove of sensory data streaming in from connected devices. In many cases, what starts as an Operational solution quickly evolves into a strategic, revenue-generating opportunity. For instance, Ness has a customer for whom we delivered operational solutions for Condition-based Maintenance activities. Along with our customer, we realized that the energy efficiency of their customers could be materially improved using data gathered from those operational systems. We were able to develop a Digital Transformation product that could be used by their customers to dramatically improve energy efficiency and reduce cost. These strategic solutions are available for the entire IoT ecosystem of devices and industries and often lead to new business models and revenue channels. Together with operational solutions, they provide exponential value.
Categorizing operational and strategic IoT solutions within a Smart Machines Domain allows these solutions to be shared across the complex IoT ecosystem without reinventing the wheel. Cost reduction and improved customer experiences can be delivered with Operational Solutions. Strategic Solutions deliver material business improvements, innovative business models and new revenue channels. Together these Smart Machines capabilities add exponential value for customers. By maintaining a broad focus on cross-industry domains, Ness has been able to “cross-pollinate” concepts like Condition- Based Maintenance, Smart Routing and Digital Transformation across industries, enabling our customers to benefit from sharing of concepts, technologies, and solutions.
You may also be interested in this Ness video featuring a Forrester analyst who discusses the topic, “Aiming to Achieve 3 Levels of Value from IoT.”
