Tell me how many times you ’ ve heard this one : the CEO or line of business leader reads an article in a business magazine or the newspaper on digital disruption , IoT or any other new technology trend (“ Blockchain cocktails with a twist of shared ledgers , anyone ?”).
Things are now in downhill motion , where the CEO / LoB leader talks to the CIO or CTO , and asks : “ What are we doing with IoT ? We need to do something to create a new sensor-driven service , or we are going to be disrupted by our competition .” Maybe it is expressed this way : “ I do not want our competitors to get a leg up on us in monetizing data . Let ’ s get ahead of this . Keep me posted on your progress .”
The CIO / CTO then delegates to an IT manager or solutions architect , saying : “ We need to be doing something with IoT . Keep me posted on your progress .” Before you know it , the lucky winner at the bottom of the management chain hears : “ Congratulations , you are the proud owner of another science project !”
The company then embarks on an internal effort to determine the feasibility of instrumenting systems , getting connectivity through metal , water or concrete , embarking on a quest for the best battery life and a GPS lock , from a room in the basement without windows . Questions abound :
“ Will we be able to capture the right data ?” “ Whose hardware do we need to solve the problem ?” “ What is the response time for acting ?”
These are all good questions that inevitably need to be answered before a successful technical proof-of-concept can check the proverbial technology validation box . However , we would argue that these are absolutely the wrong questions with which to begin .
Start with why , as the great sage Simon Sinek postulates in his book of the same name . This is the only valid first question , and the “ why ” here is all about building the business case .
For those of you familiar with Gartner ’ s Hype Cycle analysis , new technologies tend to flow from an “ innovation trigger ,” up to the “ peak of inflated expectations ,” down into the “ trough of disillusionment ,” before finally rising again on the “ slope of enlightenment .”
Some would argue that IoT is well past overhyped , and is somewhere between the “ peak ” and the “ trough .” We disagree and so do our clients .
Sometimes the best answers really are the simplest ones . If you do not understand your business case , it will be extremely difficult , if not impossible , to show a compelling result where the company saved money , made money , improved customer service , or increased safety and reduced risk .
SPRING 2018 | THE DOPPLER | 29