The Internet of Things (IoT) is the future of Internet technologies in which every object around us will be connected using some kind of network to every other object, and they will also have the capability to send and receive data from them. Continuous development and innovation of IoT solutions cannot be executed independently by any organization and it is here that the role of Channel partners fits in. Forming partnerships with industry leaders, academic institutions, government, etc. is important for the continuous management and implementation of new IoT solutions.
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“2017 is shaping up to be a big year for IoT enabled technologies. When it comes to IoT, sales pitches abound with promises of unthinkable gains in efficiency, cost savings, and new business models.”
Murali Krishnan
Associate Vice President
HCL Infosystems
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In fact, in order to cover the different facets of IoT, strategic partnerships are developing amongst technology innovators including cloud and data analytics, and industry leaders to accelerate the development and delivery of IoT solutions in an impactful way. Seeing IoT as a big bet for partners business, Arijit Chatterji, Chief Business Officer, C-Zentrix excerpts, “With IoT our partners can bring to market higher performing valuable products, based on customer needs. Marketers can build better, long lasting relationships with their customers, based on data-driven understanding of customer behavior.”
Challenges for partners
Any new technology that is positioned as a game changer attracts towards itself a fair degree of skepticism and in the case of IoT there are concerns about the security fallout from having an ecosystem of connected devices that are hooked to the cloud. Arsalaan Kashif, Director and Global Marketing Head of PES and the IoT Center of Excellence at Happiest Minds opines, “There is also a misconception that IoT is mostly for large organizations as it requires mammoth investments in technology which is certainly not true. In fact, we see that a lot of our customers are moving from the proof of concept to the productization stage of their IoT journeys and are looking at initiating enterprise wide rollouts very soon.”
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“There is a misconception that IoT is mostly for large organizations as it requires mammoth investments in technology which is certainly not true.”
Arsalaan Kashif
Director and Global Marketing Head
PES and the IoT Center
Excellence at Happiest Minds
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It is no question that the Internet of Things (IoT) is set to revolutionize the way organizations conduct business. While the application of IoT appears to be straightforward, it is not without challenges. Asoke K. Laha, President and COO, Interra Information Technologies explains, “When talking about challenges, it is important for your organization to plan for scalability and to prioritize security immediately from the onset.
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“With IoT our partners can bring to market higher performing valuable products, based on customer needs. Marketers can build better, long lasting relationships with their customers, based on data-driven understanding of customer behaviour.”
Arijit Chatterji
Chief Business Officer
C-Zentrix excerpts
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In addition, it is important to ensure your IT bandwidth is prepared to handle ample bandwidth.” Some challenges that Interra IT see in regards to the adoption of IoT include the following:
- Scalability – This is a legitimate concern. Organizations need to make sure they are properly equipped and ready to handle the influx of data from IoT-equipped devices. Will they able to pay for storing an enormous amount of data in the future? Can organizations keep this data secure? These are some of the questions and concerns organizations need to keep into consideration when looking at scalability.
- Security – Related to scalability is security. Keeping data secure from data leakages and cyber attacks is paramount. If organizations are serious in implementing in IoT strategy, then they need to prioritize and address security from the beginning.
- Constant and Reliable Connectivity – This might seem obvious, but it is worth stating. This is important, as the whole idea behind IoT depends on reliable and constant Internet connectivity. If there is no constant Internet connection, then this could obviously cause issues with implementing IoT.
- when talking about challenges, it is important for your organization to plan for scalability and to prioritize security immediately from the onset. In addition, it is important to ensure your IT bandwidth is prepared to handle ample bandwidth.
IoT is an advantage for partners
Due to its wide-ranging benefits and applicability across sectors, IoT has been labelled as ‘the next Industrial Revolution’. Sectors as varied as Healthcare, Manufacturing, Logistics, e-commerce etc. are aggressively adopting IoT. For example, in the Healthcare sector, one of the biggest adopter of IoT technology can be Remote Patient Monitoring Solutions- doctors now rely on sensors to monitor vital parameters like heart rate, blood sugar etc., leading to newer service offerings from the healthcare providers in Preventive & Palliative Healthcare. Similarly Hospitals or Healthcare providers can deploy IoT solutions for Asset Location, Asset Management, Asset Utilization, Asset loss prevention etc. sharing his views, Murali Krishnan, Associate Vice President, HCL Infosystems says, “2017 is shaping up to be a big year for IoT enabled technologies. When it comes to IoT, sales pitches abound with promises of unthinkable gains in efficiency, cost savings, and new business models.”
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“When talking about challenges, it is important for your organization to plan for scalability and to prioritize security immediately from the onset.”
Asoke K. Laha
President and COO
Interra Information Technologies
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Tips for Aspiring Partners
There are some key elements which companies should take care of. With proliferation of IoT, there is huge amount of data getting generated; the ingenuity lies in collecting the data and generating appropriate customer insights. Another key challenge is with multiple touchpoints it will be imperative to have omnichannel solution so that the various channels do not remain disjointed and provides seamless customer experience.
Final Words…
With the buzz surrounding IoT, there is an obvious temptation to include it as part of a larger portfolio in order to cater to the zeitgeist. However, it is advisable to proceed with it only if it naturally aligns with their business strategy and if they have the resources and energy required to build a dedicated IoT COE that is focused towards understanding customer needs and delivering on expectations.
