Launching the Internet of Things: how to ensure a successful debut

Purpose: Companies that leverage the Internet-of-things (IoT) will gain significant competitive advantages over the competition; however, few businesses have active IoT initiatives. This paper aims to provide principles to guide executives as they launch or scale-up IoT initiatives. Design/methodology/approach: This paper draws upon data from original expert interviews and an extensive study of existing scholarly literature, management publications and white papers from leading strategy and technology firms. Findings: Close cooperation among a company’s operations, business strategy and information technology units creates a trifecta of skills, vision and budgeting that can successfully bring major IoT initiatives to fruition. Unfortunately, many companies face a misalignment among these departments. The way to overcome this misalignment is to create a cross-functional team dedicated to IoT initiatives. Leaders should build these teams on the principles of autonomy, rational compensation, equality and diversity. Practical implications: This paper provides strategic advice for business leaders as well as four guiding principles with which to execute their IoT strategies. Originality/value: Much of the writing about IoT advocates initiatives by teaching about the many business benefits of IoT or provides a use case for a specific type of IoT technology. This paper focuses on removing a major obstacle faced by many business leaders who want to embrace the IoT but find themselves unable to do so.