IoT - An evolution to a new way of working?

The Internet of Things (IoT) is no longer a concept looming on the horizon.  It is here, although you may not recognise it yet.  None of the individual technologies involved is inherently disruptive, but collectively, an evolution step change is happening.  In the same way that smartphones – connecting us to each other, and the information resources of the internet, at all times and in all places – became dominant in our lives, seemingly overnight, despite having been evolving incrementally for years, one day soon we will wake up to notice many of the devices which constitute our personal environment talking to each other, subtly guiding and managing our world.  We will inevitably change the ways we interact with each other and our surroundings, in response to this new level of interconnection.

The Internet of Things can fundamentally transform how organizations create value. But if you look closer, the Internet of Things is not just about “smart devices”; it is also about devices and services that help people become smarter.

 Just look at the way in which our shopping and browsing habits have now changed. The introduction of first the internet and then mobile devices has fundamentally altered the retail industry. Now consumers are driving change and shopping when they want and how they want. This latest set of results shows that the popularity in online and mobile channels is only likely to continue. In order to survive this mobile and online revolution, retail stores need to be innovating, bringing their sometimes more popular digital channels in store to help enhance their customer experience and create a dynamic, exciting and vibrant environment that will keep customers returning through their door.

To become an industry-leading, digitally enabled enterprise, you must think beyond the mobile device—to the New Style of IT—and the convergence of social media platforms, mobile platforms, cloud-enabled services, and actionable insight from Big Data analytics.

The digital enterprise can radically reshape an entire industry, creating a long-lasting competitive advantage through transformation to new business models. Just think about the music industry’s transformation—forever changed by digital media, mobile connectivity, and its complete digital transformation.

The IoT enables new products and services premised around the creation of new forms of collective intelligence.

Perhaps the most relevant question is: As consumers, why are we so powerful when it comes to our mobile applications (apps)? And yet, productivity for business, corporate real estate executives, workplace, and the workforce  are not so empowered in the same way?

The availability of mobile apps for consumers to interact with their peers and perform tasks in their daily lives has set a high expectation that organizations need to aspire to for there every day requirements.

Enterprise CIOs must begin planning for new systems of engagement—that take advantage of mobile, cloud "always on" technology (to name just a few)—to create a new user experience that is more personalized and targeted to individual users’ needs. When properly understood, mobility focuses on helping real people do real jobs in the real world.

Enterprise mobility is a road paved in complexity. There are significant IT challenges associated with the very diverse range of devices, operating systems, browsers, and technologies. Getting good advice and consulting, before you start this journey, is recommended.

Fundamentally though, it’s a business, not a technology, challenge. As we move toward planning for these new systems, business executives sometimes struggle to justify mobility from a business perspective. Yet all too often, tech-centric arguments prevail. The complex and rapidly changing landscape within the Internet of Things demands a strategic & structured road-map change approach.

As an example, Unified Communications (UC) is one of the hottest topics for businesses looking to adopt the latest technologies, but also one of the most difficult to understand.

IoT solutions need to blend operational understanding with multi layered cyber risk management techniques.

• Securing data is critical at every stage of the value loop, especially the create and communicate stages.
• Remaining vigilant to new or unexpected challenges is crucial to maintaining security.
• A system’s resilience defines how quickly a realized risk can be addressed and normal operations restored

The transformations that the IoT can bring open up the possibility for new improvements and allow companies to find new paths to supply chain management.

• Making visible previously unseen information allows for greater efficiency than process controls.
• Holistic, end-to-end ecosystems can give rise to new, innovative business models
• Companies can transform push-driven order systems to differentiated pull-driven systems

The era of ‘big data’—data too large and complex to be processed with standard tools or processes—and the ‘Internet of Things’—data derived from embedded systems—is developing quickly and will shape the corporate real estate (CRE) industry in the near term.

Placing better, deeper, more accessible and more relevant data at the heart of corporate real estate is the key to addressing the challenges of underutilized corporate real estate space.

The Future of Corporate Real Estate

Facing increased pressure to improve the productivity of the workplace, the workforce, the business and the underlying real estate assets, corporate real estate executives must incorporate big data and analytics to enable both people and real estate productivity.

From a business perspective, lean & agile working should be part of the overdue solution mix to improve space utilization and flexibility, while possibly reducing overall real estate costs.

In a nutshell, Lean says to relentlessly eliminate anything that isn’t adding value and only work on what we absolutely need to be doing at this moment in time.

And the secret to … agile working. 

Agile working is all about creating a flexible and productive environment. By creating different working areas within the office works space you can ensure your staff have the complete freedom and flexibility to work where they want, when they want.

In a nutshell, don't stifle employees with a rigid office set-up. Flexibility and team work are where it's at for forward-looking businesses.

Agile methodologies will help you and your team to build world-class, user-centred services quickly and affordably. 

Where an agile project is about creating fast iterations of products based on the feedback of real users. It means regularly releasing small pieces of functionality; using constant communication between team members, and using tools that displays progress being made.