From idea to business model - how to make your IoT project a success

The concept of the Internet of Things describes the increasing networking of things and machines, which offers companies and customers completely new opportunities. At the same time, these new opportunities mean that companies have to deal with a large number of new, business-relevant issues.

• Which business processes do I want to optimize or redefine with the help of IoT?
• What technology should be the basis for this?
• What is the business model behind this?
• What added value can I offer my customers?

These were the central questions we addressed at slashTalk 2016.

Enabling new business models in industry with IoT

Jens Kulikowski, Technical Product Manager Software & Eco-System at Giesecke & Devrient GmbH, spoke in his presentation about how IoT enables new business models in the industry.

Know the cost drivers and ask the right questions: Jens Kulikowski has implemented IoT projects himself at Giesecke & Devrient and knows what he is talking about. "It is important to realize that IoT is not free and that there are cost drivers, such as data collection (big data) or the lack of focus at the beginning of an IoT project." It is also crucial to address relevant questions such as "What data do I need for my use cases?", "What is the 'thing' for my business?" and "What expertise does my organization need to successfully implement and operate IoT projects?". He also raised these questions in his presentation and analyzed them in detail.

An organization must be ready for IoT projects: To ensure project success, early, intensive collaboration between the specialist department and the IT department is hugely important. The presentation strongly emphasized that the technology is only one component of an IoT project and that it is primarily up to the organization to address the business-relevant questions and topics and to answer or implement them with the necessary relevance. This is increasingly evident in the practice of successful IoT projects.

IoT projects as cloud solutions - where the journey is heading

Prof. Dr. Christoph Reich, Head of the Institute for Cloud Computing and IT Security at Furtwangen University, has chosen the topic "IoT projects as cloud solutions - where the journey is heading" for his presentation.

Advantages and challenges of cloud-based solutions: Reich highlighted the advantages of cloud computing-based solutions. These range from scalability and payment in the form of a pay-per-use model to business agility (reacting flexibly to new requirements). He also addressed the most important challenges in the cloud environment, such as system architecture, the network and protocols, as well as the topic of identity management. Finally, the topic of "security in highly networked and distributed systems" was also addressed, which continues to be an elementary component in IT and IoT projects.

The "connected car" showcase slashDrive served as an entertaining, content-related enrichment. Based on Anki Overdrive, the technical foundations that enable autonomous driving and car-to-car communication were demonstrated. The vehicles are controlled via an end device and business-relevant data such as the vehicle's position, speed or distance traveled are displayed in a user interface. The showcase also presents various options that are used in car-to-car scenarios, such as driving in a convoy or the ability of vehicles to form an emergency lane as required.

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Design thinking, lean startup, rapid prototyping: how to implement IoT projects quickly

Robert Jänisch, founder of the IOX LAB, primarily addressed the topic of "rapid prototyping" in his presentation.

Test products on the market faster through prototyping: By developing prototype solutions at an early stage, customer requirements can be validated more quickly and the customer is therefore able to place their solution on the market more quickly. This is a decisive advantage in IoT projects, where the focus should be on customer requirements. New technologies such as the use of open-source electronics platforms such as Arduino or 3D printing are now enabling companies to act faster and more cost-effectively.

Lightning Talks

Lightning talks have become a tried and tested presentation format at doubleSlash. The speakers have 5 minutes to get to the heart of a topic briefly and precisely. Three speakers from doubleSlash used this for the following topics:

• IoT process optimization and big data - Danny Claus, Senior Business Consultant IoT at doubleSlash
  What does big data mean? Why is a maturity model for IoT business processes useful? And: How are these two questions connected? This was the basis for the content of the first Lightning Talk. The networked machine tool of a global market leader provided an exemplary use case that illustrated the topic of process optimization very simply and strikingly.

• Game of Things - an answer? - Stefan Meyer, Senior Business Consultant IoT at doubleSlash
  In many companies, IoT projects are initiated top-down. This means that it is often unclear in the initial project phase which direction the project should take in terms of content. The key question is: what ideas do we have and which of these ideas are the most promising? The "Game of Things" process model can provide support at this point by allowing a heterogeneous group of participants to generate and prioritize ideas based on relevant business drivers. One or even several ideas could then form the basis for an initial version of a "digital business model" or serve as the basis for a prototype implementation. 

• Digital Business Modeling - Simon Noggler, Business Consultant IoT at doubleSlash
  The path from a vague idea to a sustainable, scalable business model is a long and learning-intensive one. The "Digital Business Modeling" service intervenes at this point and ensures that all relevant building blocks for a business model are brought together. This helps customers to identify blind spots in their business model at an early stage and thus reduce their business risks. At the same time, transparently prioritized customer segments and value propositions increase the project's probability of success.

Conclusion

From various discussions with slashTalk participants, we have learned that the topic of "business model" is very relevant in companies. As a rule, every project starts with a rough idea, which is refined step by step and enriched with new, project-specific components. A prioritized and structured elaboration of the business-relevant questions (e.g. Who is my customer? How will my customer benefit from the solution? How do I monetize the new solution? Which partners do I need for the implementation?) forms the basis for the further project procedure.