Being connected isn’t enough — IoT isn’t only the future, it’s the present.

By Emir Hasanbegovic

Being connected isn’t enough — IoT isn’t only the future, it’s the present.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a term used to describe vast opportunities to connect non-traditional devices and systems to the internet. While connecting these things to the internet is important, how you use these connected devices is of more importance.

There are tools and devices that help connect things to the cloud. There is currently a myriad of cloud solutions that offer IoT services. If you are trying to build an IoT platform or framework, you are late to the game. It is time now to utilize these tools to bring value to the world, it is time for a renaissance of mobile connectivity and experiences. People rely on their mobile devices to be the gateway to all things digital, it is therefore easy to see what opportunities lie in IoT when you put mobile devices into the equation. We’ve seen great success and adoption in the connected home, retail and hotel industries. The real question is; how does this affect you?

Like websites and mobile applications had their time, IoT is the next frontier of digital presence. If your business or service is not connecting to the things around it, you risk falling behind. Uber has disrupted delivery and transportation services by offering simpler experiences that connect you to moving pieces all over the city, all via your mobile device. Starbucks is disrupting as well, they have made it convenient to order their coffee via mobile device. While this feature is very disruptive, this is only version one of their offering, every iteration will put them ahead of the game and systematically leave their competition in the dust. These systematic feature changes are how Uber has grown their business. While premium taxi services was version one, they have iterated and now offer different tiers of transportation, different use cases of transportation, and even food delivery.

While many are rightfully talking about big data and connectivity infrastructure, the rest of us need to focus on the adoption of the endpoints of this infrastructure. Just like for web and mobile, the cloud systems alone bring no value to your organization. A well thought out digital experience backed by said cloud system is what will disrupt your industry. All aspects of business are slowly going digital but there is a clear value to physical interactions; such as trying on a shoe before you buy it. IoT is about bringing value to the physical experiences that exist, or modifying them to supplement digital ones. Uber and Starbucks have shown that IoT is available to the masses and the masses are ready and eager to consume via IoT. Those who rely on mobile applications to drive their business should not think of IoT as a separate endeavour, but a part of their mobile application offering.

While IoT is attractive, as an organization you need to be prepared for the operational changes that accompany IoT. Your organization needs to be able to handle new procedures and support the technical issues associated. These digital experiences may provide insight into critical opportunities for your organization and you will need to be able to pivot accordingly to take advantage of the opportunities presented.

Let’s take Starbucks as a hypothetical example of operational changes, with more people skipping the order line and going straight to the production line, the demand for employees to take orders decreases and the demand for making orders increases. This leaves the potential to service more clients with the same amount of staff, change is required to embrace this opportunity. The difficulty lies in the transition between the old and the new, in this case the shift of skill sets may leave the store’s customer services lacking, which affects the way the customer views the overall experience.

Take a minute to stop and think about what connected environments and IoT could mean for you and your business/services. The reality is that you will need to incorporate these changes soon, the question is how will your organization prepare for these changes.

Originally published at medium.com on February 1, 2016.