How to set a path for connected product development and delivery

Many businesses are beginning to generate new revenue streams through their IoT-connected products. But connecting a product is only the first step in what can be a steady increase in generated value. Knowing the best path to follow up front can help a business make the most effective choices early, avoiding detours and roadblocks along the way. There are a number of specific steps to ensure getting the full value of connected products.

Moving past connection to service

Every product requires some level of service and support. So, up front, it helps to pick a scalable IoT platform for the storage and processing of machine data and the proper applications to deliver remote services. Ensure that issues of hosting, security, and appropriate application programming interfaces (APIs) have been resolved at the beginning of the connected-product journey.

Integration with enterprise systems

To be truly valuable, data and analytics from connected products should integrate with the enterprise systems such as customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), and product lifecycle management (PLM) that support a company’s fundamental business processes. Ensure that the data generated by the connected products is structured to easily integrate with other systems, not something to take for granted.

Anticipating innovation

In addition to driving company business processes, connected products will provide the opportunity to generate greater customer value, including how users interact with the product. Many will increasingly take advantage of such things as immersive experiences using augmented reality (AR).

You can’t know ahead of time where the greatest opportunities for increased customer value will emerge, so pick a flexible platform that supports AR and other sophisticated interactive applications, and will be ready to support customer value efforts.

Learn about the other steps to connected product maturity

In our eBook “Mastering the 6 Levels of IoT Success,” you will learn several steps on the road from unconnected to fully innovative. Learn them all, and plan your own route to success.