Adroit Market Research - Industry Insights

Internet of things common definition is defining as: Internet of things (IOT) is a network of physical objects. The internet is not only a network of computers, but it has evolved into a network of device of all type and sizes , vehicles, smart phones, home appliances, toys, cameras, medical instruments and industrial systems, animals, people, buildings, all connected ,all communicating & sharing information based on stipulated protocols in order to achieve smart reorganizations, positioning, tracing, safe & control & even personal real time online monitoring , online up

Internet of things common definition is defining as: Internet of things (IOT) is a network of physical objects. The internet is not only a network of computers, but it has evolved into a network of device of all type and sizes , vehicles, smart phones, home appliances, toys, cameras, medical instruments and industrial systems, animals, people, buildings, all connected ,all communicating & sharing information based on stipulated protocols in order to achieve smart reorganizations, positioning, tracing, safe & control & even personal real time online monitoring , online upgrade, process control & administration. We define IOT into three categories as below: Internet of things is an internet of three things: (1). People to people, (2) People to machine /things, (3) Things /machine to things /machine, Interacting through internet.

Globally the retailers are progressively adopting advanced and innovative technologies to provide their customers with an enhanced experience while shopping online as well as in-store. However, with the growing competition, many retailers are facing problems in running their business efficiently and failing to optimize their resources. Therefore, the Internet of Things (IoT) in retail solutions enable retailers to gain insights from the past as well as real-time data that allow retailers to provide products based on their previous purchase history and which section they visit the most.

With the Internet of Things the communication is extended via Internet to all the things that surround us. The Internet of Things is much more than machine to machine communication, wireless sensor networks, sensor networks , 2G/3G/4G,GSM,GPRS,RFID, WI-FI, GPS, microcontroller, microprocessor etc. These are considered as being the enabling technologies that make “Internet of Things” applications possible.

Enabling technologies for the Internet of Things are considered in and can be grouped into three categories: (1) technologies that enable “things” to acquire contextual information, (2) technologies that enable “things” to process contextual information, and (3) technologies to improve security and privacy. The first two categories can be jointly understood as functional building blocks required building “intelligence” into “things”, which are indeed the features that differentiate the IoT from the usual Internet.

Creating new channels and revenue streams, Optimizing the supply chain operations and improvement in customer experience are the three main areas in which retailers are offered opportunities by IoT movement.

Making the Internet of Things a Reality

Leadership teams may find it difficult to get their arms around an Internet of Things strategy. CIOs in particular may be hard-pressed to accommodate entirely new classes of devices into their already complex IT infrastructures. But considering to take new steps for laying a foundation for IoT support later has become very important for the retail vendors. Specifically, they’ll need to think about building new capabilities in two key areas:

1. Organization

One of the most important pieces of driving the IoT-enabled agenda is ensuring that the right culture, organizational structure, governance and talent exist within the company. Business and IT leadership must work together to identify opportunities to leverage technology and ensure a strong partnership between IT and the business, empowered by executive leadership, to rapidly bring new ideas and solutions to market.

Key organizational elements required for IoT success

Culture

• A clear understanding of the business strategy to confirm that IoT-enabled solutions are consistent with business strategy

• An approach that prioritizes the impact and potential benefits of IoT investments around customer needs

• Alignment between IT and operations, marketing, supply chain and other business stakeholders to confirm that IoT-enabled solutions are designed and implemented with business needs in mind

• A willingness to rapidly test—and fail—in order to find the right mix of solutions and capabilities

Governance

• Reduce silos between business and IT initiatives related to IoT by building cross-functional project teams comprising IT, Marketing, Operations and Supply Chain

• Reduce internal competition for resources and experience

• Prioritize revenue enhancement vs. cost reduction opportunities for IoT (e.g., use cost reduction benefits to fund revenue enhancement initiatives)

• Adopt agile development techniques to improve deployment times for new IoT-related functionality

• Create new privacy policies that carefully account for the new relationship businesses will have with consumers and their data and how they will interact in the real world

1. Technology

A foundation of technical capabilities is critical to enable the IoT agenda. IT teams will need to build off of existing investments in key areas such as big data/analytics, in-store technology infrastructures and internal and customer-facing applications to take advantage of the wealth of data generated by IoT devices, while ensuring that the proper connectivity and security foundations are in place to support IoT-enabled initiatives.

Foundational technology capabilities required for IoT success

Big Data / Analytics

• Compatibility and use of existing data warehouses and database solutions for IoT applications • On-premise and proprietary data management vs. cloud solutions to support IoT analytics

• Middleware solutions and data interchanges that optimize speed of queries for real-time analytics

• In-memory computing

Infrastructure

• Bluetooth LE Beacons that identify and send messages to registered consumers and unregistered devices that respond when the customer enters a store

• RFID for inventory management

• Network security policies and services to ensure customer data is secure across the entire supply chain

Applications

• Web services/APIs that define how devices send, receive and process information

• API management strategy to provide the business with API monitoring and visibility capabilities

• App factories

• Development and debugging tools

• Embedded operating systems

The Internet of Things is still in the very early stages of implementation. But IoT deployments are likely to mirror the rapid adoption curves of other recent digital technology revolutions, beginning with the birth of the Internet and continuing with the rapid-fire rise of mobile, ecommerce and social media. Rapidly changing customer expectations and industry competition may require retailers to look at the IoT even more aggressively than they have other technology disruptions. Waiting does not appear to be an option for retailers that want to protect market share and position themselves for future growth.