An article on the VentureBeat web site argues that companies need a senior-level champion to help accelerate the adoption of “game-changing” IoT technologies.
“The prerequisites to IoT success are centralised ownership, cross-departmental collaboration, and agility. This is why the chief IoT officer is so crucial,” the author – Syed Hoda, CMO of IoT analytics company, ParStream – argues.
“As IoT becomes widespread across organisations, it cannot become fully effective if the cultures, data and devices from different departments are disconnected from one another and operating in a vacuum.”
Hoda quotes Ken Forster, managing director of ThingMUSE Ventures, a global venture partnering group focused on early-stage industrial IoT companies, saying: “The chief IoT officer will need to be the focal point where IT and operational technology (OT) data is integrated, analysed, and turned into actionable insights.
“The Chief IoT Officer should also be primarily responsible for coordinating with the C-suite to determine budget so that there is allocative efficiency between departments, as well as collective buying power. This person needs a strong vantage point to observe the effect of IoT throughout the company so they can quickly realize and capture new business opportunities.”
Hoda also quotes Emil Berthelsen, principal analyst at Machina Research, saying: “Companies pursuing IoT opportunities should seek a chief IoT officer who is used to championing the ‘junctions.’ The chief IoT officer needs to work well with both internal and external customers and understand the junction between business and technology drivers, and balance company cultures between being product and service oriented.”