8 Mistakes that Derail IoT Projects

When it comes to the Internet of Things (IoT), Cisco provides an objective and somewhat worrying stance. Its study of companies investing in IoT projects revealed that of all companies surveyed, only 26% have success with their IoT projects. While failures can occur for almost every reason imaginable, here are eight of the most common pitfalls to watch out for with your next IoT implementation.

1. Dismissing IoT as a Fleeting Trend

The popularity of IoT has grown a lot in the last several years, and that growth doesn’t show signs of stopping. According to Mark van Rijmenam, founder of Datafloq, The Internet of Things will change how we work, live, and run our societies, and for many, it will make life easier.

Even though this opinion is supported by current data, some business owners still perceive the technology as a flash in the pan. Others believe that the technology hasn’t advanced enough yet to be worth the investment. On the contrary, it is predicted that in just a couple of years there will be 50 billion things connected to the internet. Companies who can master the use of IoT early on, even through trial and error, will have a huge advantage over companies who haven’t prepared.

2. Failing to Create a Firm Business Strategy

John Picciotto of Accenture Strategy says IoT projects often fail because of an executive leadership problem. Successful IoT projects are firmly rooted in a strong business strategy. The organization must be able to answer the question: What unique solution will the business take to the market? This strong business focus serves as a foundation for the program.

If you don’t have a solid business strategy, developers may not understand how to start or improve the product and other team members may not know what the benefits are, or how to present them to end users.

3. Creating an IoT Solution without a User Base

IoT devices succeed when they solve people’s existing pain points. Unfortunately, as Bob Clary of Develop Intelligence points out, many companies make the mistake of trying to retrofit a solution using the technology, rather than focusing on solving an actual problem. Technology can be a hammer looking for a nail, and the principles of needing to provide a product or service that meets a specific need still need to be followed.

Companies that forget these principles inevitably bring a product to market that fails because nobody deigns to buy it.

4. Lacking Resources and Skills

Many companies get into a large IoT project only to realize it demands extensive expertise in hardware, software, security, marketing, and other areas. Mark Benson, chief technology officer of Exosite and member of the Forbes Technology Council, offers sound advice, saying smart companies start their journey with simple discrete IoT applications that provide short-term economic gains and insights about what customers value, both of which inform the organization’s long-term IoT strategy and journey toward becoming a digital company.

If you’re just getting into the world of IoT, start small and plan a fairly minor project. Smaller ventures help you learn what will be successful and what won’t, and from there, you can plan progressively larger projects and steadily gather the resources and specialists you need to make a truly great product.

5. Collaborating Poorly

John McDonald, CEO of IoT company ClearObject, says four elements are critical for IoT project success: ideation, device development, software development, and cloud maintenance.

Ideation comes first, which is shaping the desired data-driven service with design, wireframes, and user interfaces. This framework is then parsed out in parallel to two teams ‘the first works with the edge, or the device itself. The second team is a traditional software development team, who works on the software that goes on the device and around the device. The last step is the cloud, where the data goes, where the devices are managed, and where the software is maintained.

To move smoothly through these four steps, there should be constant communication between involved teams and between individual team members. Everyone must understand why and how the product is being built for it to be successful.

6. Neglecting the Management Side of Things

Tripp Braden, executive recruiter at Strategic Performance Partners, told the Internet of Things Institute, I consistently see a lot of failure as a result of lack of leadership. For many companies, those leading IoT projects have more experience with the technical side of things instead of product management.

The Project Management Institute (PMI), which studies project management across a variety of industries, confirms Braden’s opinion. According to the organization, when project management is considered unimportant only 52% of projects meet their primary objectives. PMI encourages companies to invest in dedicated project managers to complete projects on time and within budget.

7. Skimping on Security

Security is probably the number one fear that holds companies back from using the internet of things, says David Poulsen, security expert at Cut Cable Today. Equifax and other major data breaches have of course heightened our sensitivity to security issues, and hopefully that will encourage companies to invest wisely when it comes to IoT security.

Security breaches that lead to identity theft and credit card fraud can be detrimental, but in all honesty, poorly secured IoT projects can cause even more harm. Syed Hosain, chief technology officer at Aeris, illustrates the security situation perfectly:

Way too many people have jumped on the IoT bandwagon to create applications without thinking about security. But there are some applications in the IoT market which are worrying about security sufficiently to slow down their rate of deployment to assess the impact of security breaches.

Because of this higher risk, security must become a measurement for success when it comes to IoT projects.

8. Minimizing the Importance of Testing

The saying fail fast, fail often sometimes gets a bad rap even though it generally works well ‘it spurs companies and developers to innovate and iterate. However, as Cisco’s Marc Blackmer tells Security Ledger, There are limits to the maxim of fail fast, fail often.’ As the joke goes: If at first, you don’t succeed, so much for skydiving.’ In other words, accepting failure should never be an excuse for being reckless or shirking responsibility for the consequences of your actions.

Datafloq suggests a way to support the maxim without negatively impacting IoT projects: continuous integration. The approach automates testing to streamline development, detect problems early on, cut chances of falling back into bad habits, and improve code quality. In that way, fail fast, fail often becomes synonymous with fail well.

The Internet of Things (IoT) succeeds when its points of failure are addressed. Remember these eight pitfalls during your next IoT sprint, and you will increase your chances of a successful product launch.