Ricardo Buranello, VP of the Italian multinational Telit, provides guidelines for small and medium-sized entrepreneurs to explore the IoT market in order to create innovative projects
The Internet of Things (IoT) is the major global technological trend. It consists of sensing and connecting objects that were previously inanimate, ensuring the collection of thousands of data and the automation of processes. For Telit's VP for Latin America, Ricardo Buranello, today Brazil has more than 11 million devices connected only via the cellular network.
"We are not talking about a distant future, but a current scenario that tends to grow even more. Proof of this is the data published by industry analysts with the forecast that we will have 50 billion connected devices in 2020", says Buranello. And how to undertake in this growing sector? Check out the executive's three guidelines for exploring the IoT market with innovative projects:
1. Understand where your product actually generates value: A common mistake we see in the market is the development of a product without a clear vision of its value generation. When we talk about IoT, we can have both products that meet the needs of individuals (such as a device that monitors your home, your car, your dog, in short, the applications are endless) or that meet professional solutions (what the market calls industrial IoT). Regardless of where you are positioning your company, be clear about where your product generates value. It's common for entrepreneurs to get so excited about technological challenges that they can't clearly visualize the real value they're generating for customers.
At the end of the day, as exciting as the product is, it has to deliver value to the end user. An interesting example is from a client of ours who developed a solution to connect public trash cans. Dumpsters started to notify the cleaning company when they were full and needed to be cleaned. Thus, the truck makes an intelligent route, stopping only in the necessary places, drastically reducing the amount of trucks needed for the maintenance of public cleaning.
2. Time-to-market is everything: For you to be successful you need to have the right product at the right time. Technology has evolved rapidly and companies need to deliver solutions in a timely manner. Fortunately, communication modules and microprocessors have evolved to the point of significantly shortening hardware development time. From an application point of view, cloud solutions ensure that customers also develop their software in an accelerated manner.
In less than a year we have helped dozens of customers to develop their applications through our software platform. Companies are increasingly realizing that the ideal is to focus on what matters to the end customer. The platform that ensures the interconnection of hardware, APP and ERP is extremely complex, but it can be outsourced, reducing development time and risk.
3. It's not enough to have a great product: This is a sensitive part of our market. In more than 10 years supporting hundreds of customers in Brazil and Latin America, I can categorically state that the best product is not always the one that sells the most.
It's not enough to have a great product and not be able to access your customer. It is necessary for the entrepreneur to have a coherent channel structure for the market he wants to serve.
The product has to be offered at the right price, in the right place, at the time the customer is inclined to consume.
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