The Internet of Things is all about data, despite the vertical it’s being deployed in—from smart assistance to smart cities, from single processes to enterprise workflows, from fitness trackers to complex healthcare automation. As per Bain & Company, by 2021 the IoT sector will achieve a spectacular rise to a near $520 billion market. Undoubtedly, IoT is enjoying its fair proportion of growth and predictions for the near future.

As it is most intelligent devices that adapt the spotlight, the new trend floating around in the business sectors is enterprise IoT. Enterprise Internet of Things is all about connecting devices, proactive monitoring, and the intelligent management of enterprise workflows, products, and services.

Enterprises providing products, services, and processes maintained by business management systems—for example, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Software Configuration Management (SCM)—are using the “connectedness” of their business assets and verticals to optimize their workflows. Additionally, enterprises consider that combining operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT) will be a cost-effective and smart proposal, and can guarantee that user and device needs are fulfilled in a secure, reliable, and efficient manner.

As these units are associated and exchanging data, enterprises are not only able to observe and manage business processes, but also use and learn from the data to study end-user behavior. It also detects and anticipates probable incidents using pattern-based triggers.

Here are some major points to consider for businesses to look at Enterprise Internet of Things.

Reducing the gap between IoT and the Enterprise

In India, IoT has not been used profoundly in a company yet. By coming in contact with the stories on the impact of Industrial Internet of Things, integration of IoT in usual enterprise roles are still in the promising stages. This will develop as more companies and their top leadership like CEOs articulate about the technology. Enterprise IoT is the single way to make sure digital transformation is adopted at all levels of a business.

IoT investments and panic of high expenditures

Implementation of Internet of Things or for implementation of any new technology, the cost is one of the most common topics of discussion including unpredictable expenses associated with optimization, data costs, security implementation, prioritization of information and much more. Vendors should come up with more efficient and easier solutions while planning the cost structure for the Internet of Things ecosystem. As the widespread perception by businesses is that hardware is the most expensive, it is really the most expected. But, implementation also entails spending on data usage, security, and software which are less expected and therefore, add to budget concerns. In the long run, digital transformation and IoT will only help the businesses decrease costs in operations.

Recognizing potential drawbacks through IoT

Incorporation of IoT into corporate networks is one of the largest areas of digital transformation happening across industries. According to a Gartner survey, 80% of organizations which have adopted Internet of Things showed that they are achieving better-than-expected results from their IoT projects. But, reports also recommend that privacy and security are the topmost technical challenges faced by Internet of Things enabled projects. Multi-national companies also face extra challenges like differences in the quality and accessibility of local infrastructure. To address this, organizations should design their infrastructure strategy ahead of schedule into business if they are new and make changes in their business and incorporate technology into the business by involving the leadership too.

The Detonation of IoT data

Fortinet report shows that 1 million new devices get connected to the internet every day causing detonation of IoT data. But, this elevates a massive concern for security. IoT devices are likely to make a quarter of cyber-attacks by 2020. Factors like a multi-vendor environment, headless devices or in other words, devices which lack the usually provided control and visibility.  Companies should come up with strategies to lessen these dangers on the front-end.

Utilizing Enterprise IoT to the finest

Enterprise IoT can be applied to approximately to any feature of businesses, including applications, development, product design, hardware, and deployment.

Strategic insights across domains on a firm dream of where the company is headed with its IoT implementation are needed. Nothing arises without a challenge and in this space; the strength of challenges is still yet to be discovered.

In the end, as it may appear like a strong and well-structured strategy, there is a requirement to put companies on the way to success.