In this news roundup for IT leaders, we bring you articles on the Internet of Things to help you eliminate fears and dive in, whether you think you’re ready or not.
Advice for riding the IoT tidal wave
Early this week, David Foote, partner and chief analyst at the research and analysis firm Foote Partners, shared his take on the specific skills organizations will need in order to take advantage of the “tidal wave” of the Internet of Things. But aside from addressing the skills gap, what else are organizations doing to prepare? According to a recent survey from BPI Network, not enough.
In PC World this week, Stephen Lawson breaks down the results of the survey of 350 global executives, which found that “41 percent of respondents expect IoT to have a big impact on their industries within three years, affecting things like efficiency and differentiated products and services. But only 7 percent said they have a clear vision with implementation well under way.”
Don’t let that stat scare you. In fact, Andrew Froehlich writes in InformationWeek about why “giving into IoT fears may not be the smartest decision to make.” Froehlich focuses specifically on fears around security and makes the argument that IT leadership should “consider is the traditional risk vs. reward decision making process. In many business verticals, IoT projects can be used to create significant competitive advantages. A fear of IoT is expanding the window of opportunity, since many enterprise IoT projects have been put on hold due to concerns over data security. But if the project seems promising, it may be worth the risk to push on, as long as security is at the forefront. Often in the enterprise, we have to embrace fear and accept a certain level of risk. That's what business is all about.”
Of course, you’ll want to make sure you are taking smart risks as you delve into the IoT. Here are four steps to help you achieve success with your IoT strategy, from Jeff Shattuck in CIO.com this week. Among his tips, Shattuck offers this sage advice: “IoT is not ‘one size fits all,’ especially with regard to analytics. As you define your IoT strategy you want to be sure that right up front you know what you’re after in terms of analytics and then architect for your defined goal.”
More news for CIOs
The pathway to digital transformation runs through IT [NetworkWorld]
