It is widely recognized that Internet connectivity will present significant opportunities and savings for a spectrum of those businesses and organizations who deliver software enabled systems and products. Some organizations are already demonstrating how Internet connectivity is delivering a level of smart operational capabilities to their products, systems, features and application extensibility.

This guide report outlines, in brief, the results of a study that investigated the role of Internet connected products and operational processes within the industrial market, especially within those organizations that produce smart, software enabled products and systems. The results serve to provide the basis for the guiding principles for a sustainable strategy for IoT support that we summarize for organizations and businesses looking for more effective outcomes both in the market and within their operations.

This report is a companion to two further reports in this “IoT fundamentals for product delivery and manufacturing operations” series: Part 2 IoT Study: Insights into the realities of Internet connectivity in the product and systems market and Part 3 IoT Roundup: CIC market observations and recommendations.

This paper was authored on an independent basis by the analyst team at Creative Intellect Consulting, with sponsorship from IBM. The content is based on industry intelligence gathered and analysed by the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsor.