Connectivity, Disruption, The Internet of Things, Small to Medium Business

The world is becoming more connected and the buzz word of the year is “The Internet of Things”. What does this really mean and will small to medium businesses be impacted? The short answer is YES, the harder question is How? Right now, there is no detailed answer but we do know the ‘Internet of Things” will change the way small to medium businesses do business as they use technology to innovate.

This article provides you with an overview of what is meant by the “Internet of Things’ and some of the challenges it creates and the impact on the relationship of the Small to Medium Business IT provider.

Internet of things defined?

The IT world is at its best with the use of jargon and having a language of its own that makes it hard for the ordinary person or the small to medium business owner. Let’s break down the mystique of the Internet of Things. (IoT)

Internet of things is defined as: the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling them to send and receive data.

Consumers are experiencing the impact of this convergence in all technologies everyday e.g., Smart TV, Internet Fridges, Cameras, Motor vehicles, home security systems, Smart homes electricity, hearting etc. The continued adoption is driven by the benefits delivered to each consumer in the way it improves their daily life.

Is it any different for a small to medium business? The answer is no. Every single business will look at ways they can use the interconnection of computing devices to achieve improvements in their business.

What are the Business benefits for small to medium businesses?

Every business owner will look to 1) improve the top line by increasing revenue from existing customers or from finding new customers, 2) gain efficiencies and improvements in the way products/services are delivered. 3)Reduce costs by streamlining processes, and 4) being able to accelerate the time to market increased responsiveness.

This impacts the way the small to medium business owner thinks about IT and the relationship they have with their IT advisor/technician. No longer is it about a break/fix relationship but rather one that requires the advisor to understand what the game plan is for the business and then provide the strategic advice of how technology can be used and the final part is the buying of and the implementation of the actual technology solution.

A recent Telstra report “Digital transformation. Are you disrupted or disrupting” reported that “55% of all respondents are actively seeking to disrupt current or new market’s”

What are the challenges confronting us with the evolution of IoT?

Security: With an increase in the number of network connected devices serious security measures need to be taken to prevent data leakage. More devices increase the number of vulnerable points. This changes the face of security and requires a total management perspective to ensure you are minimising the risks of a security breach and loss of data. The other challenge that goes with this is simply the volume of data that is being collected. This raises the challenges of data recovery and Business disaster recovery strategies. Without the data, it becomes very difficult to do anything.

Connectivity: As more devices are connected this will impact the thinking around the underlying infrastructure requirements and will drive a move away from traditional centralised server/client paradigms to authenticate, authorize and connect different nodes in a network.

Extended Network Management: IoT creates a need to work with larger data capacity and manage more IP addresses this means more work for the IT support group and they need to be managing around the clock as a business cannot afford the network to be down. This changes the nature of IT from Break/fix to proactive monitoring.

Final Thought

IoT is an issue that the smart business owner is going to take notice of. Why? Because of the benefits it delivers in being able to run a successful business whether that’s moving to a new business model or disrupting an existing market, or using data more effectively to gain improvements and reduce costs.

Stay tuned as this evolves over the coming months and years.

Some interesting reading:

“Digital transformation Are you disrupted or disrupting” Telstra

“Asia Pacific Industrial IoT Cloud platforms 2016” Frost & Sullivan commissioned by Bosch