How Businesses Can Implement IoT Solutions

While the Internet of Things is changing people’s lives in incredible ways, many small businesses have been blind to it. Until recently, customers have started investing in IoT solutions, but there are ways that businesses can benefit as well. These are things to keep in mind as the Internet of Things continues to grow.

Enterprises are finally starting to use IoT

The Internet of Things opens new doors for businesses, including:

• Enables them to optimize their multi-device marketing strategies
• Provide customers with more functional solutions
• Mining new sources of data to improve their pipeline

According to a 2015 report by research firm IDC, the IoT market is expected to reach $1.7 trillion in the next three years. IDC's report said that as enterprises adopt IoT solutions, its growth rate is accelerating.

Enterprises are taking a growing share of the IoT market, now accounting for nearly 40% of all IoT purchases, and are expected to use 3.1 billion IoT devices by the end of this year, according to a recent report from research firm Gartner. The total number of devices connected to the IoT will exceed 8.4 billion.

Denise Rueb, research director at Gartner, said: "IoT services are at the heart of IoT market growth. Total IoT service spending (professional, consumer and connected services) will reach $233 billion in 2017. Services are led by the professional logistics technology operational technology category, where service providers assist enterprises in designing, implementing and operating IoT systems. Consumer services will grow at a faster rate. Likewise, connected services are growing as costs decrease and new applications emerge."

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How do enterprises apply IoT? What are the limitations?

There are many ways that companies can take advantage of the Internet of Things. Bettina Tratz-Ryan, research vice president at Gartner, said the Internet of Things is most widely used in the manufacturing industry.

Industrial companies use IoT to regulate production, control defects, and streamline implementation. Gartner reports that factories use many different types of IoT devices, including smart meters and process sensors.

However, IoT solutions also have limitations. The biggest disadvantage is that IoT tools cannot be easily integrated into a company’s existing infrastructure.

“They realize that only an ecosystem can successfully operate the Internet of Things,” Tratz-Ryan said. “Industrial companies must become more open because they will not be able to integrate the diversity of industrial business applications into their own platforms.”

This often requires the establishment of new control systems and processes, which can be prohibitively expensive, especially for companies that have been working for a long time and have outdated infrastructure. However, if the capital required to transform an IoT environment can be provided, the return on investment will be much higher in the long run because they can improve production efficiency, reduce waste, and reduce unit costs.

Healthcare companies are also using IoT, which makes it easier for them to collect patient records and share information with other healthcare providers. They face some challenges as well. The biggest one is making sure they are compliant with HIPAA. Certain devices may not be approved until they can be shown to comply with HIPAA guidelines.

How many companies will turn to the Internet of Things in the future?

Businesses around the world are beginning to realize the benefits of IoT. However, adoption has been slow due to the need to change infrastructure, meet new regulatory protocols, and understand the nuances and limitations of new technologies. However, they are likely to continue to accelerate their use of IoT in the near future.