CDO, CIO, CTO or CEO – Who will make connected services successful? (3rd part)

 3 – Technology issues

c | Focus on sophisticated platforms – instead of quicks MVPs and a prioritization of initiatives!

From classical waterfall approaches we know that the final solution must be planned till the end and be perfectly developed before being used further. If companies approach an IoT platform like this, a lot of time and money will have to be spent until such a complex construct is ready – but do we already know what we want to have in the end? Usually we don’t – product requirements and client expectations come up over time. Still many companies find themselves within an approach we call platform envy: they focus their capacities into planning and building a sophisticated platform first (“if the platform is fully ready we can start to develop the services”) without having a tangible solution or product for a long time. The board keeps asking “Where is the service?”, customers are asking “When can we use the service?” and the answer remains “we have to build the platform fist!” – which is wrong! Instead of focusing too much on the platform and its services, a Proof of Concept leveraging all elements of the IoT stack can quickly prove the benefits and functionality of an application to customers management. Around the established PoC further core requirements of the platform and other customer desires can be added step by step.

Using the PoC platform, we are now ready to implement the first use cases. Now, use cases must be prioritized in such a way that an impact is quickly delivered. We are excited to share our experiences related to Connected Services Strategies and Business Models in the next article!

Check the article published in Linkedin!

Authors:

• Thomas Steigerwald, Manager Smart Products & New Business Models – Check Thomas LinkedIn profile
• Leonardo Serra, Senior Consultant Smart Products & New Business Models  – Check Leonardo’s LinkedIn profile 
• Josefin Stiel, Consultant Smart Products & New Business Models –  Check Josefin’s LinkedIn profile