New Digital Infrastructure Helps Companies Get Started With IoT Quickly
As more and more products are designed and developed for internet connectivity, innovative end-to-end solutions are required to ensure both continuous product functionality and real-time data flow management.
Niklas Agerhem, Head of IoT Complete at Telenor IoT, was recently interviewed by the Swedish newspaper Nyteknik. Read the translated version here to hear his insights on the future of IoT.
The rise of IoT has fundamentally changed the way companies develop products. Today, connectivity is built into products as standard from the start and is no longer a function that is added afterwards.
“Nowadays, products are developed with connectivity right from the start. There is an expectation from the customer to be able to control, monitor and influence devices remotely. The requirements for availability have increased dramatically in the last 2-3 years alone,” says Niklas Agerhem, Head of IoT Complete at Telenor IoT.
IoT Complete
Manufacturers face new demands
To keep up with the evolution of technology, businesses need to quickly get up and running with connected services. However, developing completely own solutions for this requires both large investments and completely new expertise. New ways are therefore needed for industry’s ability to handle the digital transition.
A connected product places high demands on reliability and troubleshooting. The security that the product works flawlessly and that it is easy to identify and correct errors is a large part of the customer experience. Here, a stable connection becomes the key to the product being able to generate its value.
“Today, many companies have problems as they are dependent on their customers’ infrastructure for connectivity, for example if a WIFI network in a property is used to connect an air handling unit. If this doesn’t work, you won’t be able to access the product and deliver the service you promised to your customer. You need to take control of the connection and the entire value chain if you are to seriously succeed with your digital business,” says Niklas Agerhem.
By using mobile connectivity instead, companies become independent of the customer’s infrastructure and can deliver services that are easier to install, thus providing the customer with a better user experience.
“In the past, costs for data traffic have sometimes been mentioned as a problem, but this has changed. With today’s optimized solutions and the pressure for products to have higher availability and be easier to get started with, we are seeing a strong growth in mobile connectivity,” continues Niklas Agerhem.
“The most important thing is to find a clear customer value and a benefit everyone understands. Niklas AgerhemHead of IoT Complete
Connectivity gives birth to smart products
Reliable connectivity opens doors that make it possible to turn data into added value. Niklas Agerhem emphasizes that the offer of connectivity in itself is no longer enough. Technology must also create customer value and simplify the user experience.
“Most new products today come with increasingly built-in intelligence and are possible to connect. To be unique, you must therefore also work on creating a better customer experience. How does connectivity help to simplify or improve? What is the value that makes the customer willing to pay more for your product or service? How do you make sure that the customer can benefit from a more advanced product
By leveraging the data flows that become available via connectivity, companies can offer products and services that solve the customer’s problems better. One example is raw data from a heat pump that probably doesn’t tell the average person very much. But with automatic optimisation and processed information from the pump that is presented in a user-friendly interface and in some cases even makes their own decisions, the customer does not need to become an expert on the heat pump themselves to reduce the household’s energy consumption.
“That’s exactly the trick for many companies. To make good use of connectivity, you need to really make sure to understand the customer’s real needs and perhaps also change the business model. This, in turn, affects how the company sells, delivers and builds up its service,” explains Niklas Agerhem.
IoT Challenges and How to Avoid them
Telenor revolutionizes the process with IoT Complete
Increased demands for digitalization of products in all industries have led to a need for solutions that make it faster and easier to connect products. Telenor’s new IoT Complete service brings together all the components needed to make an offline product into a connected product available – all over the world. What previously could take years of in-house development can now be done by companies in a matter of days.
“At Telenor, we know how to connect things. Therefore, we have developed a service that works for different types of industrial products. Instead of integrating solutions from several different suppliers, we can offer a complete solution where we take full responsibility for the delivery. It also makes troubleshooting much easier if problems arise, explains Niklas Agerhem, and concludes:
“We can offer a solution with higher quality that is easily configured according to the customer’s needs and where we take responsibility for the entire chain. This is unique in the industry and means that our customers do not have to become experts in connectivity and modems, but instead can put more energy into understanding their customers’ real needs and building their digital business. We make sure that the data ends up in the right place and offer a completely modular solution where you choose the services you need – without lock-in. Easier business and better quality, that’s our ambition.
The interview in Swedish can be found here.
Get a Free Consultation
