Johannesburg, 18 Oct 2022
No, but it's often widely misunderstood.
Unlimited potential
The internet of things (IOT) is a fascinating prospect. Billions of endpoints worldwide constantly feed small bits of information to intelligent platforms that continuously visualise, report, remotely monitor and analyse mountains of data.
Through basic business analysis, or in more complex cases, the use of AI, the IOT enables businesses to make more informed decisions, automate compliance, optimise production, manage asset performance, predict maintenance cycles, and ultimately lead to profitability growth.
Looking past the bottom line, IOT can increase worker safety, conserve water, reduce energy bills, protect endangered wildlife, reach sustainability goals and, at the extreme, save lives. Implementing IOT should, in theory, form part of every exco's strategic objectives, which begs the question, why doesn't it?
Riding the wave
IOT as a marketing label is misused. The term IOT was coined in 1999 but took off as a concept around 2013. Long-range, low-battery infrastructure became more viable as sensors became cheaper and more efficient.
Some sensors can send small data packets and last for years on a single battery charge. One relatively inexpensive LoRaWAN gateway can connect to sensors over a ~15km radius in rural areas and ~5km in urban areas making private networks a viable choice for IOT projects like intelligent farming and smart cities.
Blue-chip tech companies invested heavily in the IOT space, especially those whose business is collecting, storing, platforming and analysing data. Telcos followed soon after, seeing IOT as an opportunity to expand the number of data points with SIM-enabled devices significantly. By the mid-2010s the hype around IOT was feverous.
The problem comes in when defining what IOT is — breaking IOT down to its most basic definition, it's described as physical objects with processing capability collecting and sending data over the internet.
In other words, IOT can be a massively complex smart city network of interconnected devices with varying levels of integration required to securely collect and process data at the edge. It might require multiple protocols communicating seamlessly to actuate outcomes based on a multifaceted set of pre-determined rules. Not to mention the platform integration, intelligence and reporting needed to make the data useful.
Or it can be something a little less daunting, like desk occupancy. Is someone at the desk? Yes or no. Another example can be installing a vibration sensor onto a conveyor belt. Is the machine vibrating past a specific band? Then maintenance is required.
Using the exact definition, your smartphone is an IOT device. Does that make the cellular shop down the road a reseller of IOT technology? The broad definition of IOT has led many businesses to market themselves as IOT solutions integrators, only to disappoint end-users with projects either not moving past the proof-of-concept phase or massively underdelivering on the promised ROI. The result is end-users being out of pocket and disenchanted with IOT's potential.
The road ahead
IOT is not dead. It's still in its infancy.
We're slowly moving out of the frontier phase into a market where expectations are moving closer to reality, and proponents of IOT are developing a deeper understanding of how to deliver value to their clients. In 2015, predictions for the number of connected devices reached as high as 1 trillion by 2022. Based on your definition of IOT, the number is closer to 12-15 billion. That's quite the spread.
Going back to the period when the hype around IOT peaked, many analysts overestimated the IOT market, but they weren't wrong about its potential. They were simply over-optimistic with the timing and rate of adoption. Factors like the global component shortage and security concerns might present short-term headwinds, but the IOT market is expanding at an incredible rate, with most analysts predicting compound annual growth rates exceeding 20%. The consensus is that it will remain the trend for years.
Successful implementation of IOT projects remains complex, but it's becoming easier. Before a project is considered, ask what outcome it delivers, cost savings as an example, and then ask whether that outcome is useful to the client. Is the cost saving larger than the project cost? How much time will it take to recuperate the initial outlay? Importantly, it’s rare for one solution provider to successfully handle the entire project from device to integration to deployment and application. It's crucial to build an ecosystem of partners that each specialises in their role.
Lastly, it's essential to understand that IOT is not an industry. It's all industries. You can apply IOT to virtually any vertical. Mining, agriculture, retail, health, finance, manufacturing, and other sectors can benefit significantly from more data. Based on observation, it's clear that businesses find the most success with IOT when they focus on a specific vertical or a concentrated set of verticals.
Usually, projects get off the ground quicker if IOT is used as an enabler to an existing business, like asset monitoring or machine maintenance, instead of setting up IOT as a standalone service or division.
We live in the early days of a massive paradigm shift, and IOT will play a central role as billions of sensors collect and translate the physical into the digital. If used correctly, IOT can change our lives for the better and move us firmly into the fourth industrial revolution.
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