8CIOReview | | NOVEMBER 2020IN MY OPINIONIoT AND THE GROWTH OF DIGITALIZATIONBy Han Boon Siew, Chief Information Officer - IT and Digitalization, Schaeffler Asia Pacific1. The Myriad Advantages of IoT in Business IoT refers to the Internet of Things. This is where we focus: Things. Schaeffler systems and components are found in machines exactly where the most important data are generated. Traditionally, hardware or mechanical products were just items on their own and performed own functions. With the internet coming into play, we see a range of opportunities to diversify the business, especially into services. The past few years have witnessed the tremendous growth of connected things via wire or wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, RFID, 5G, etc., as well as highly intelligent devices such as smart phones and IoT sensors. The connectivity and functionality expanded by the wired and wireless technologies and devices have had a strong impact not in our life but also in industry. With massive deployment of IoT devices and build in connectivity, millions of data are collected for further analysis. This gives the chance to allow the business to offer new services through data utilization, creating insights for both business and their customers to improve their offerings. Schaeffler has put significant investment into research and development in recent years and has incorporated sensors, actuators, and control units with embedded software into these products. With this, it is now possible for these parts to collect and process valuable data on the condition of a machine and then convert this data into added-value services.IoT supports interconnectivity and intelligent devices. With this new Information and Communication Technology (ICT), all businesses will become digitalized while service level rise. All these achievements are inseparable from data storage, transmission, and computing. 2. Challenges Plaguing IoT Today IoT supports the digital transformation of modern business. Millions of IoT devices are connected, collecting data for further analysis. There are many ways for these devices to communicate, each with varying pros and cons. When we have a large number of devices spread over a big area, wireless communication with long-range and low power consumption is required. For those critical applications requiring an immediate response, we also need some ultra-reliable low latency communication technologies as backbone support.In huge countries, there remains a strong justification for infrastructure setup/outreach versus returns on investments (ROI). Digital technologies are driving business changes, and the digital economy has bright prospects. However, the digitalization of enterprises is more than a technical thing. It is about the whole enterprise transformation. Enterprises who turn a blind eye to digitalization and using IoT will lose competitive advantages in the long run. Huge investments without truly understanding digitalization cannot ensure any competitive advantages or significant improvement of business performance. Deployment of IoT, as well as digital transformation, should go beyond the IT department. It needs to be launched and promoted by enterprises' top decision-makers, making it a development consensus. Besides, IoT and digital transformation need to penetrate the entire organization across all functions.
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