Every time a new technology comes along that shows promise for business, companies aggressively kick off studies and pilot projects. A proportion of these first projects fail. We saw it with client/server computing and again with data warehousing. It’s happening today with large-scale IoT projects.
The good news is that each failed Project can still be a lesson, which will eventually lead to more IoT projects succeeding. We will get to a point where we have more robust and flexible technology tools and platforms, better teams in place to handle external upsets, and a much better understanding of how we should run enterprise-scale, business-positive IoT projects.
How to Not Kill Your IoT Project
We recently finished a survey of 1,845 business IoT leaders, and found that 60% of IoT initiatives stalled at the proof-of-concept stage. Of the 40% of IoT projects that survived into the pilot stage, only 26% were deemed successful by business leaders.
Based on hundreds of conversations with our customers, and analysis of their work, we’ve identified two main failure points for IoT projects:
1. Integration Complexity. IoT projects blend existing networking platforms, data-gathering tools, and computing resources in new ways. They also integrate completely new products and services. These new systems have to put the right data in the right hands at the right time, and they have to do that at scale and at speed. Some companies build their own fundamental technologies in this vacuum. I applaud the DIY mindset for these projects, but data shows that it’s a dangerous path.
2. Lack of Internal Expertise. To use new technology, your teams need new skills. For line-of-business projects that must combine with IT, you need new kinds of collaboration. We’ve found that the more diverse your team, the better the likelihood of a positive outcome. IoT projects today are complex and there aren’t a lot of experienced people around to support them. That makes the hand-off from project creation to integration a difficult transition.
Over time, business will solve for these issues. It won’t be easy or simple, but the business advantages of strategic IoT projects will pull improvements through the process. In our survey, 64% said they took what they’ve learned so far from failed projects and acceleratedtheir investment in IoT. And 61% of our respondents agreed that they have “barely begun to scratch the surface” of what IoT can do for their business.
That optimism makes a lot of sense. IoT tools will get more robust and easier to manage. More projects based on them will have positive business outcomes.
