Three Ways The IoT Can Drive Business Value

You can’t escape the IoT momentum these days. The Internet of Things is being used for everything from saving the rhino from poaching to leveraging stray dogs to fight crime.

But even as vendors spend billions to try and grab IoT market share, it’s not always clear exactly how their business customers are supposed to actually benefit from IoT. According to a thoughtful new report from Forrester, the answer lies in three fundamental business scenarios:

  1. Design: Transform new or existing products or environments
  2. Operate: Enhance physical processes with better information and digital automation
  3. Consume: Improve services, operations or products with third-party IoT customer and context data

The report, called Untangle Your IoT Strategies: The Three IoT Scenarios and How They Drive Business Value claims every company can apply IoT to at least one those scenarios. That may be optimistic, but the framework can help companies get a clearer picture of how they can leverage IoT.

Complexity is the enemy in IoT projects

The dizzying complexity of possible business use cases, the incredible variety of IoT devices and the myriad possible benefits and stakeholders are what make the business benefits and challenges of IoT hard to sort out, the report suggests. The three scenarios are intended to cut through that confusion to let technical and business leaders focus on exactly what kind of IoT applications make sense for a given organization. Let’s take a look at each one:

Scenario 1: Design products and experiences

This scenario covers what are often called “connected products” or “smart products.”

They range from “durable goods, with IoT in the product or the dispenser for the product” (John Deere’s FarmSight, Field Connect, and HarvestLab), to “packaging with embedded sensors to monitor consumable products”, Vitality GlowCap for pill bottles, to experiential spaces in locations such as retail stores and sports stadiums, MLB Advanced Media’s MLB.com Ballpark app, all enhanced with IoT sensors and data.

Scenario 2: Operate business processes

“IoT sensors can lower costs by preventing expensive downtime and improving asset utilisation,” the report claims. And “IoT can also help offer customers more product customisation, faster delivery and better experiences.”

Examples include wearables for employees or consumers; customer experience enhancements for retail, hospitality, travel, entertainment and sports venues; and industrial and business environmental improvements. Other examples: tracking the operations of equipment and machinery; as well as buildings and large-scale built infrastructure, including whole cities.

Scenario 3: Consume insights

This third scenario includes “any business that can gain insight from real-world data that helps improve its offerings,” even when that data comes from third-party IoT sources, not from operating your own IoT networks.

Examples here include monitoring the safety, wellness, and medical condition of people in a variety of contexts, as well as tracking the activity and status of property ranging from vehicles to industrial equipment and machinery. Tracking environmental information, from weather to water quality, can also be valuable.

Big benefits for IoT success

The benefits of IoT are big, the report promises.

“Firms that do implement IoT scenarios don’t see simple one-shot benefits. Because IoT can span a wide variety of products, environments, operations, and data analytics processes, there’s a rich, escalating spectrum of business value.”

The report even offers a handful of strategies to help companies get there:

  • Develop IoT design strategies in addition to operations strategies.
  • Plan beyond the initial optimization benefits of using IoT in operations.
  • Start with customer experience, then work back into internal operations.
  • Find “consume” IoT opportunities by learning where user journeys interact with IoT-enabled assets or environments.

This structure makes sense, and anything that helps organise the unstructured chaos of the amazing range of stuff that gets dubbed IoT is a welcome tool.

Still, the big step comes when you need to go beyond figuring out how to think about what’s happening in IoT and decide what your company can actually do about it.

Networkworld

You Might Also Read: 

IoT Is Becoming A Nightmare For IT:

Internet of Things Brings Threats To Security:

 

 

« Big Data And Policing
Las Vegas Murders: Fake News Follows Every Tragedy »

Infosecurity Europe
CyberSecurity Jobsite
Perimeter 81

Directory of Suppliers

Clayden Law

Clayden Law

Clayden Law advise global businesses that buy and sell technology products and services. We are experts in information technology, data privacy and cybersecurity law.

Infosecurity Europe, 3-5 June 2025, ExCel London

Infosecurity Europe, 3-5 June 2025, ExCel London

This year, Infosecurity Europe marks 30 years of bringing the global cybersecurity community together to further our joint mission of Building a Safer Cyber World.

CSI Consulting Services

CSI Consulting Services

Get Advice From The Experts: * Training * Penetration Testing * Data Governance * GDPR Compliance. Connecting you to the best in the business.

Jooble

Jooble

Jooble is a job search aggregator operating in 71 countries worldwide. We simplify the job search process by displaying active job ads from major job boards and career sites across the internet.

TÜV SÜD Academy UK

TÜV SÜD Academy UK

TÜV SÜD offers expert-led cybersecurity training to help organisations safeguard their operations and data.

Dubex

Dubex

Dubex is Denmark's leading business-oriented IT security specialist.

AuthenTrend

AuthenTrend

AuthenTrend provide biometric authentication products to achieve high security with extreme ease-of-use for the user.

Salient CRGT

Salient CRGT

Salient CRGT is a leading provider of health, data analytics, cloud, agile software development, mobility, cyber security, and infrastructure solutions.

CryptoTec

CryptoTec

CryptoTec is a provider of security concepts and encryption solutions for secure communication between decentralized computerized systems.

ComCERT

ComCERT

ComCERT SA is an independent, private consulting company focusing in the assistance of its customers facing the dangers of cyber threats and security incidents.

C2A Security

C2A Security

C2A Security offers a comprehensive suite of cyber security solutions for the automotive industry, providing in-vehicle end-to-end protection.

Innovent Recycling

Innovent Recycling

Innovent Recycling provides a secure IT recycling & data destruction service to all types of organizations across the UK.

Eco Recycling (Ecoreco)

Eco Recycling (Ecoreco)

Eco Recycling is India's first and leading professional E-waste Management Company that has set industry benchmarks with its innovative & environment friendly disposal practices.

Redwall Technologies

Redwall Technologies

Redwall provides cybersecurity expertise and technology to prevent and respond to emerging threats against mobile applications and connected infrastructures.

Bfore.ai

Bfore.ai

Stop future attacks, today. Bfore.ai is an operational threat intelligence feed to add predictive technology to your security infrastructure.

Mitigate Cyber

Mitigate Cyber

Mitigate Cyber (formerly Xyone Cyber Security) offer a range of cyber security solutions, from threat mitigation to penetration testing, training & much more.

Hetz Ventures

Hetz Ventures

Hetz Ventures is a global-facing VC investing in highly talented and ambitious Israeli founders who operate at the cutting edge of deep technology.

Fivecast

Fivecast

Fivecast is enabling a safer world. We help organizations around the world explore masses of data to uncover actionable insights.

RightSec

RightSec

RightSec is an emerging market leader and solution provider for cybersecurity and digital resiliency. We provide end to end solutions to suit your specific business lifecycle.

CIP Cyber

CIP Cyber

CIP Cyber is an online learning community with a mission of connecting, training, and certifying cybersecurity professionals to protect critical infrastructure.

Pacific Certifications

Pacific Certifications

Pacific Certifications provide accredited certification, training and support services to help you improve processes, performance and products and services.