There is a world of difference between how an enterprise app and a consumer app are developed and how they are used. Nevertheless, the Internet of Things (IoT) has had a very positive impact in the world of mobile apps and software development. How exactly can the Internet of Things contribute to enterprise apps?
Data for everything
One of the trends that makes the Internet of Things exciting and attractive to enterprises is that it is becoming cheaper and cheaper to put just about everything on the Internet. You have lower prices for network-enable hardware, Internet access is everywhere, there are remote management tools, and components such as sensors and transmitters have lower costs. What this means is that you will be seeing the devices that you commonly use on the Internet, gathering data about your business, customers and other aspects of your operations and allowing you and other devices to access the same data for your own use.
As such, you have access to all the relevant data for you to do your work, and ensure that you make the right decisions. What’s more, you can share this data to with mobile apps that other people in your organization use. For example:
- Customer service and customer relationships. Tying the Internet of Things with your customer relationship management apps or software, you can better understand your customers, know what they are doing, where they are going and what they want. This allows you to create automated customer support services that are personalized to what they need. You can also get more revenue by taking the data you collect and feeding it into a sales recommendation engine. Not only that, you can proactively serve your customers. For example, an IoT device can help you access maintenance information so that you could do some preventive maintenance or at least facilitate for faster repairs. What all of these lead to is that using the data you get from the Internet of Things and letting your apps and software access these data can help you give your customers a better experience with your products and brand.
- IoT and your enterprise content management and business intelligence systems. Without a doubt, the Internet of Things will make your ECM and BI systems work especially hard. But there is a tradeoff. For instance, you will be working with more data that your business intelligence app or software will need to crunch, but this will enable your BI app to give you better business insights and deeper analyses that help you make the right decisions at the right time. You will also have a lot more content to capture, store and manage, but this will give you a 360-degree view of your business, your operations, your customers and your competition.
- The Internet of Things and human resource management. There are simply a lot of applications for the Internet of Things when it comes to human resources management. It can keep track of your employee behavior, actions and other factors and it helps you come up with an action plan for that particular employee. For example, you gather data about your drivers’ behavior on the road through your fleet management software. You take these data and feed it into a software or an app and you know which of your fleet drivers need more safety training. You can also make use of these data to help your employees improve by providing feedback and helping them assess their own performance. You can also use the same principle to come up with more objective performance appraisals. What’s more, you can use the IoT and mobile apps to deliver self-service platforms to your employees and their managers.
The Internet of Things is changing the way enterprise apps work. If you need help in making this happen at your business, call Four Cornerstone today.
Photo by Olabi Makerspace.
