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Approaching IoT Projects with Non-Technical Companies

The Thing Is, IoT Truly Is For Everyone

IoT is firing into every corner of the organisation now, and it is no longer a futuristic, robotic dream but a common reality. Despite this, many companies are still struggling to come to terms with its development, and are hesitant to adopt change.

It’s been a difficult year for individuals and companies alike, with many companies reporting they don’t have the budget for IoT spending. Others, meanwhile, have stated that since the pandemic they are looking to increase their resources spent on IoT as they can see it as a valuable asset for protecting themselves for future difficulties.

Why Not Tackle IoT?

A lot of companies don’t see themselves as technical, because they may have outdated systems, or don’t make technological products per se. We believe every company has the capabilities to take on technology projects and to improve upon current processes and service or product offerings, both through IoT projects and through available digital transformations. Though these are ominous factors that tend to make CIOs and the rest of the C-suite raise their hands and back away, “not today, IT team…”

Some of the barriers to entry include data protection, security concerns, device and communications safety, connectivity and lack of standards. We covered these barriers to entry and how they can be addressed in this blog post, but today we’d like to briefly discuss how IoT projects can be developed in seemingly difficult organisations. Perhaps old infrastructure, legacy systems, siloed departments or traditional organisational cultures are holding companies back from truly realising the potential that new technologies and advances can bring to a company.

How To Embrace Change

At Davra, we’re big believers in using what you already have to drive your IoT projects. Our platform can easily connect to any data sources you already have to derive important analytics to feed our models, and to get the IoT platform running as quickly and efficiently as possible.

However, with many companies, this cannot always happen at such speeds. There will come a stage where the infrastructure is simply too dated, and piling more tech on top of that will make things difficult down the line. If this is the case, we suggest working from the ground up and incorporating new technology to allow your IoT system to evolve and scale for the future.

Otherwise, things can get a little complicated and costs will start to spiral.

If this is already giving you a headache, fret not. PwC surveyed over 2,300 CIOs on their findings when undertaking digital transformation projects: “Global spending on DX technologies and services is forecast to grow 10.4% in 2020 to $1.3 trillion.”

The rate at which technology is expanding might be daunting, but there are ways around replacing old infrastructure too. PepsiCo, for example, adopted an Infrastructure-as-a-Model approach a couple of years ago, when they overhauled their old assets and systems. They’re now partnering with Microsoft to develop on that further, implementing machine learning and data estate consolidation.

Where to Start The Digital Transformation

Your Use Case

Every project needs a goal and clear foundations to align with business goals. Rather than getting caught up in the IoT hype and trying to define every possible route your business could take with new tech, layout the direction you’d like to move in. You’re in control of this transformation, not the other way around!

Analyse, Iterate, Develop

It’s vital that you first assess what assets you have. You might be surprised that a lot of your tech isn’t actually that dated! Your IP infrastructure, network, data management and software should be looked at from the functioning and security perspective to find flaws and improvements. When you know what you have, or are missing, you can then move on to develop clear technological goals for the road ahead.

The Gameplan

You might find after assessing your infrastructure, that it’s not actually as dated as you think. You may not have to undergo the complicated transformation that you thought, and that you can actually instead develop an incremental IoT system on top of the infrastructure as previously planned. As long as you’re sticking to the original goals for the business development, while consulting the right people to make these decisions, you’re on the right path to developing a forward-thinking organisation.

Partnering with well-known IoT vendors ensures your whole organisational procedures and systems are carefully mapped out. With the rate of cloud development and big data, companies simply can’t afford to not keep up or they will fall behind. At Davra, we have the capabilities to advise you on the best solutions for your business to ensure you can continually benefit and scale with IoT applications. If you feel like your business is dated or stuck in a legacy-ridden rut, please contact us with any questions relating to your organisational needs. You’ve got a friend in IoT!