Hard costs associated with business technology are quantifiable and inevitable. At some point in the future we all know that hardware upgrades will be necessary and they will come at a price. However, in the race to stay technologically relevant, CTOs can often miss the opportunity to utilize the devices they already have to significantly reduce soft costs. With a big picture approach to handling the smallest operational tasks, existing IoT devices can produce monumental efficiencies in business processes and present opportunities for new revenue sources, without ever upgrading a single piece of hardware.
Using existing IoT devices to identify and remove soft costs
Many of the soft costs of modern tech management are wrapped up in operational efficiency related to data management. The current operational workload of data management, when taken at the large scale of thousands of mobile-connected devices, is immeasurably large and complicated to access or aggregate. Businesses who try to do so tend to lose hundreds of hours of work tied up in manual processes involving spreadsheets, reports through multiple carrier and account logins or custom API integrations that are constantly in need of updates.
What if operational costs could be quantified, optimized and even removed at a single access point? Doing so requires access to all data across connected device platforms, carriers, and contracts and across the abundance of existing IoT devices (SD-WAN, edge devices, etc). It requires a single log-in, single pane of glass dashboard with customizable reporting that can be viewed, accessed, and activated from anywhere.
Once you start to access aggregate data in this way, it becomes immeasurably more meaningful to business process automation. Not only are employees freed from tedious data management tasks but the following repercussions on operational efficiency are also monumental.
Turning aggregate data into automation
At a large scale, data can now be queried for anomalies and triggers can be created to automate tasks. Your data management system becomes an operator in and of itself. You can detect offline devices and trigger the system to send you a notification, deactivate them or run a report. You can see usage issues related to software updates and automatically roll them back. Trends in geographic location, carrier, contract or usage become immediately clear and actionable. Whatever the anomaly or the action, the result is the removal of even more operational tasks from the employee along with better device performance, reduced carrier costs, and faster customer service.
Next level API integration - API as a Service
Your data is aggregated, business processes are automated, what operational efficiencies are left to explore? The answer is in API integration. With the data at the ready, the capability to harness it for action and the tools for API integration, you are now entering a new level of automation and operational efficiency. Communication between third-party systems brings the opportunity to automate further, creating a cohesive, full-circle, experience for customers and maximizing operational efficiency within your business. Communicate with credit card companies to activate a device upon payment, or deactivate a device upon overdue account status. The options to integrate and automate your data with API integrations are as endless as there are business processes. With API as a Service, these integrations are not only created quickly and reliably, they can now become a cornerstone of new opportunities and revenue streams.
Hardware manufacturers would have you believe that only they hold the keys to access new efficiencies and integrations that can change the way your business operates. That is simply not true. With a big picture approach to data management and automation of processes, your existing army of connected devices can expand your business opportunities while reducing operational costs exponentially.