Category: FAQs

Industrial IoT vs IoT - know the difference

Industrial IoT versus IoT – do you know the difference?

Posted on Benson Chan4 CommentsPosted in FAQs, Industrial IoT, Internet of Things, Product Management

Industrial IoT (IIoT) is not the same as IoT. Industrial IoT, a subset of the larger IoT, focuses on the specialized requirements of industrial applications, such as manufacturing, oil and gas, and utilities. Although IoT and IIoT share common technologies (sensors, cloud platforms, connectivity, and analytics), the similarities end there.

This article highlights key differences that product managers and buyers must know when planning industrial IoT solutions.

The secrets to successful partnerships in the fast changing IoT market – Part 1

Posted on Benson ChanLeave a commentPosted in Best Practices, Execution, FAQs, go-to-market, Innovation Management, Internet of Things, Partnerships, Product Management, sales, Strategy

Today’s IoT market is very dynamic, continuously evolving, and fragmented. No single vendor has a connected IoT stack. Partnerships are a critical business capability that IoT vendors must develop in order to be relevant in this type of marketplace. This post, the first of two parts, describes the basic partnership types, the relationship models and key engagement scope parameters.

iot buyers

Selling IoT – Who Is Your Real Buyer?

Posted on Benson Chan5 CommentsPosted in Best Practices, FAQs, go-to-market, Internet of Things, sales, Strategy

You found product-market fit and built your Internet of Things (IoT) solution. But do you know who your buyer is?

IoT solutions create value that cut across organizational boundaries. Identifying a single buyer or owner in today’s traditionally structured organizations is difficult. Unlike IT where there is a centralized buyer, IoT buying is decentralized.

This post describes the reasons for this, and provides six best practices for selling IoT solutions into corporate organizations.

IoT sensors

Back to Basics – Sensors for IoT applications

Posted on Benson ChanLeave a commentPosted in FAQs, Internet of Things, Sensors

While a lot of the attention on the Internet of Things (IoT) is on platforms, analytics or even machine learning, IoT really starts with the sensors at the point of use, or the “edge”.

This post is part of the “Back to Basics” briefings on the Internet of Things (IoT) architecture for executives, managers and anyone new to IoT. Using the “Follow the Data” approach, I’ll start at the edge with the IoT sensors, and work my way back to the core of the IoT system.

This article will describe the sensor technology and considerations when selecting sensors.

smart homes for real people

Smart Homes for Real People – Where’s the Value?

Posted on Benson Chan1 CommentPosted in FAQs, Internet of Things, Smart Home

I saw many smart home and home Internet of Things (IoT) products at the 2017 Consumer Electronic Show (CES). All were interesting. All solved the wrong problems. And all missed the mark with real world buyers.

While today’s smart home products do useful things, they solve “first world” problems of convenience that are not useful to “real world” buyers.

This post discusses what problems that smart homes really need to solve, and provides some takeaways for smart home designers to consider to make their solutions more attractive to “real world” buyers.

5 types of innovation

Innovation is not just about technology – the five types of innovation all managers must know

Posted on Benson Chan3 CommentsPosted in FAQs, Innovation Management, Strategy

Recently, I met with key executives from an industry trade group to discuss disruptive innovation in Silicon Valley.

One key concept I shared with them is that although many people equate innovation with technology, there are actually five types of innovation and that some or all may occur at the same time.

This post describes the five types of innovation, and provides managers with three takeaways to guide their innovation strategy.

Innovation of Things, not the Internet of Things will drive real innovation and transformation

Posted on Benson Chan1 CommentPosted in FAQs, Innovation Management, Internet of Things, IoT

Are you ready? The Internet of Things (IoT) is here and its ability to drive new innovation will be huge.

But how much is real and how much is hype? Today’s IoT are “point” solutions that don’t live up to the hype. They offer limited utility and solve a small set of problems.

This articles discusses what IoT will look like when it lives up to the hype. It provides fives takeaways for managers to do today to begin the transformation from Internet of Things to Innovation of Things.