Harnessing the data from IoT devices could help your business thrive

When reminded of IoT, you might most readily recall such consumer products as wireless thermostats and smart speakers like Amazon Echo and Google Home. You might not so quickly consider potential business applications of the technology; indeed, in a study cited by Econsultancy, most industries played down the importance of IoT in business.

However, they could be disregarding the technology at their own peril. Upon more closely studying it, you could notice more and more merits of such for transforming corporate intelligence. Research company Gartner has forecast over half of major new business processes and systems to incorporate IoT in some fashion by 2020; don’t allow your own company to get left behind.

Easy-to-understand visualization of complex data

Businesses can often present data in the form of charts and graphs; however, easily digestible though these are, they are not effective in visualizing the kind of complex data which can be sourced through IoT. Fortunately, IoT devices are up to the task of showing it in a comprehensible way.

This is crucial because, of course, the abundant and complex data which can be derived from IoT could count for little if businesses are unable to even understand it.

Improved use of human resources

Despite the nonchalance with which the business world has generally greeted IoT, it’s a very different story with the biotechnology industry – which, when surveyed, has widely cited IoT as vital to the industry. Indeed, biotech products can be easily integrated into workplaces.

Just think of the example of “smart helmets” capable of monitoring workers’ alertness and so improving their health; also consider GPS tracking which can help make operations more efficient.

A wide array of connected machinery

Given the huge variety of networkable objects, of which Cisco has claimed the world might have up to 1.5 trillion, you might not be too surprised to learn that much of your workplace’s current equipment – which might not have been first bought for IoT purposes – could be connected.

In connecting this equipment online, you could improve communication and control and so save time and money. For example, IoT-ready air conditioning units could have sensors capable of picking up on whether the units’ filters properly work, while many machine functions could be automated.

Data center management and automation

A rising influx of data can, of course, call for new data centers; however, for your company, managing multiple data centers across disparate locations could be taxing. Fortunately, it can be much easier if you use connected sensors made possible by the IoT, as ZDNet notes.

Such sensors could also ease the automation of data center processes. Christian Renaud of 451 Research has claimed that this will be crucial because “the volume of data is going to far surpass human beings’ ability to triage it all fast enough”.

Surveillance and security

The iPhone X’s ability to let users unlock the device just by looking at it has drawn more attention to facial recognition technology. Indeed, it could become increasingly mainstream security technology in the future, as could cameras and doors connected to the IoT.

When carrying out market research reported last year, 451 Research learned that some businesses were drawing more IoT into their security systems.

Contextual features and information

Right now, it is already common for companies to gather IoT data before returning it in the form of features specially designed to appeal to specific users. Personalized ads are a good example of such features, but there remains potential for the further use of contextual technology.

For example, businesses could use proximity data to, when someone is walking near a shop, send them information about special deals available at that bricks-and-mortar outlet. All of that information can be sent to the person’s smartphone, as can details sent through the use of beacons.

Health monitoring

You might already have implemented a workplace health scheme, whereby all of your workers wear fitness trackers that can amass valuable data about the wearers’ health. However, such data can be made available to not only employers but also healthcare providers and insurance firms.

Such data can inform decisions made by people responsible for helping keep other people healthy. According to some research firms, IoT’s place in healthcare could surpass $400 billion in value by 2022. Real-time patient monitoring is particularly helping to grow the IoT market in healthcare.

Nonetheless, if you remain unsure how to effectively follow through with an IoT solution for your business, we recommend that you endeavor to learn from the RedPixie IoT roadmap.

 

We hope you found this promoted post as entertaining and informative as we did!