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of their investments through equity and venture capital , rather than through debt . Adjustable pricing will also be more common ; technology will allow B2B prices to vary by time of sale , amount of use , and type of application .
Amazon has been a pioneer with innovative financing , particularly in the way it scales up and upgrades its platforms . It consistently innovates in areas such as cloud computing and warehousing , which require large but targeted investment . It has done so by repeatedly raising money from the stock market and making a convincing case that these investments are going to pay off in the long term . It has thus been able to put in money where other companies didn ’ t have it . GE has had similarly strong financing acumen , drawing its investment capital from the management ( and divestment ) of multiple businesses . It ’ s building an enormously expensive platform almost from scratch . The company has a staff of about 28,000 software engineers . In the end , to fully develop the Industrial Internet ( and thus to continue the viability of industrial civilization ), it will be necessary to replace or upgrade every aspect of the world ’ s industrial infrastructure , with capabilities and systems that didn ’ t exist before . Financing all this will require as much expertise and creativity as the technological innovation . The technologists understand this . They are establishing metrics for tracking short- and longterm returns , balancing immediate payback and long-range aspiration . They are also embracing new mechanisms , such as blockchain , to ensure that pricing , billing , transfer payments , and subsidies are reliable and free of undue influence . By the time they are finished , the capital infrastructure could be as boldly innovative , and as different from that of the past , as the physical infrastructure that it made possible .
Making a Better World
8 . Focus on purpose , not products . As a leader in the Industrial Internet , you will probably develop a wide range of products and services during any given five-year period , potentially in several sectors . Many other companies will use the same platforms to enable their capabilities . To differentiate your company , you need to develop a clear purpose : a value proposition , more effective than anyone else ’ s , that applies to everything you do . This means looking closely at the reasons people come to your company , the outcomes they expect , and the ways you can deliver . When you are clear about what your company is , and why you sell what you sell , people will trust you to deliver what you promise . Customers recognize when a company fulfills its purpose . They are interested not in products or services , but in outcomes . Consumers at a premium retailer are buying more than clothing or a coffee drink . They are buying a distinctive experience as well . Instead of thinking of your company as providing a particular type of product or service — electric power , health records management , or automobile components , say — think of it as a producer of outcomes . The customer needs to get somewhere , so you ’ re not a car company ; you ’ re a facilitator of mobility . Already in many cities , customers are using vehicle sharing apps for short-term rentals ( often of electric vehicles ), reserving cars where they need them and dropping them off when they are finished . The house is cold , so you ’ re not just a fuel supplier . Your purpose is to help make the home warm , possibly through energy consultation .
Ask yourself whether your company truly has an outcomes focus or is still stuck in a physical product mind-set . Are you judging success according to the meaningful differences you make to customers in terms of satisfaction , quality of life , and productivity ? Could better outcomes be possible for customers if you could produce or provide goods and services in a different way ?
9 . Be trustworthy with data . You already collect a vast amount of data . As the IoT spreads to wearables , consumables , cars , and every conceivable part of the home , what you know about people will increase exponentially . The Industrial Internet will bring that level of data collection into your workplace . Shared data is the fuel of the next industrial revolution . And just as earning digital trust will be key to success , forfeiting people ’ s trust will be a surefire route to failure . You will need not only to manage customers ’ behavior , but to prevent outsiders from gaining access to critical information . Strong risk management , cybersecurity , and data integrity systems are essential in helping companies avoid breaches and better manage disruption to operations . Transparency has to be an integral part of your strategy . Without a clear idea of how rules are defined and implemented , for example , stakeholders may question a company ’ s fairness and honesty . Keep up with leading-edge approaches to protecting sensitive information from cyber-attack or theft . Cloudbased systems built into most digital platforms will make it easier to protect data by enabling companies to track and recognize intrusion in near real time . As PwC cybersecurity experts David Burg and Tom Archer put it , your company will most likely protect itself in the future “ by monitoring activity
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