Now is an exciting time in the world of the internet of things (IoT). Exciting for both customers and businesses. As Salesforce IoT Cloud approaches general availability, now is the time to start and accelerate your IoT transformation journey.
Customer-focused IoT is the next exciting phase of IoT. Customer-focused IoT combines device and product oriented IoT silos with CRM to provide engaging customer experiences that make existing products more valuable and create new product and business opportunities. Many companies are launching and prototyping innovative connected device IoT solutions that focus on an exciting and engaging customer experiences.
Don’t Underestimate the Threat and Opportunity
In today’s customer-first economy (know me, give me control, adapt to my situation), companies that don’t combine connected products and devices with engaging customer experiences will become less relevant, less profitable, and less competitive. Put another way, today’s IoT presents an abundance of opportunities to make existing products more useful for your customers and will drive sales, recurring revenue streams, and innovative business models.
Barriers to Entry Have Been Eliminated
The barriers to entry for customer-focused IoT have now been eliminated. This includes:
- Availability of inexpensive hardware such as sensors and wireless network hardware to connect devices and products
- Adoption and availability of CRM, edge device and data management cloud platforms for scalability and reach
- Rapid result click-not-code IoT solution platforms that bridge the gap between device IoT silos and customer engagement solutions such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and Marketing Cloud. A good example is Salesforce IoT Cloud combined with Amazon AWS IoT and Xively
Keys to Success
The following lessons learned and success factors will help speed your IoT journey:
- Start now, start small, learn fast with quick feedback cycles, then scale quickly.
- Choose a solution platform suite that 1) supports rapid innovation and fast implementations 2) integrates easily customer experience clouds 3) enables you to scale quickly and easily. Salesforce IoT Cloud with Amazon AWS IoT and Xively is a good choice.
- Customer first IoT is a relatively new business model and requires new skills. Adopt a new mindset and assemble a team of specialists to help accelerate your IoT transformation.
If you haven’t started your IoT transformation journey, don’t wait any longer. The barriers to entry are gone and an abundance of opportunities await you.
