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The Internet of Things is one of the most perplexing developments in modern history. I recall reading speculation about it over 20 years ago, although the term itself had not been coined yet. For the past five years, it has finally come to life. The number of IoT devices grew by 30 percent between 2015 and 2016. According to a report by Gartner, over 8.4 billion devices were connected to the IoT this year.

While the growth of the IoT fascinates industry pundits around the globe, it also raises a number of questions. As the discussion continues to unfold, SAP is playing an important role in addressing them.

Stephen Patterson of NetworkWorld wrote an article stating that it is one of the biggest changes in his 20-year career. Patterson writes that the industrial IoT is built on the premise of personalization and customizability:

“For the time being, the industrial IoT does not have many one-size-fits-all products. Early adopters and innovators in different industries will prototype and pilot until methods and best practices are exposed and multifunctional teams in IT, operations technology, security, plant engineering, finance and management gain experience. Then there will be industry-specific one-size-first-all products, methods and best practices to implement them. SAP is well positioned to pivot right into the middle of the next growth phase enabled by IoT.”

Here are a couple of the biggest discussion surrounding the IoT and the future SAP holds in it.

Industrial IoT will dominate the landscape

The IoT has fulfilled the dreams that Isaac Asimov fans have held for over 50 years. However, it wouldn’t maintain its current growth rate without a strong demand among key industrial players.

Industrial IoT is the future of commerce. It is going to propel both SMEs and multinational organizations into the next century.

How will SAP impact industrial IoT?

The potential benefits of SAP for industrial IoT applications are virtually endless. Here are some of the top SAP applications for industrial IoT solutions.

Greater personalization

SAP has already introduced a number of personalization features for online content management, which are available on Shopify and many other CMS and content providers. As valuable as those features are, SAP has not even begun to test the limits of personalization.

Personalization will be the backbone of manufacturing 4.0. Manufacturers will create custom products for individual customers. Advances in 3-D printing and other industrial technology have already made this possible. However, assessing the needs of those customers was not possible until The IoT became mainstream.

The industrial IoT enables companies to monitor customer behavior on a much less macroscopic level. Brands understand both the key interests of their users and their preferences for individual devices. They can aggregate user data with SAP to recommend custom solutions to these customers the next time they need to upgrade or replace their devices.

Streamline industrialization with predictive maintenance and other industrial IoT solutions

Industrial IoT doesn’t end with manufacturing. It is an end-to-end funnel that also encapsulates maintenance and ancillary service delivery. Predictive maintenance is a booming business model that is born by the intersection of IoT and SAP. We have previously written about the landscape of predictive maintenance in the past:

“Reduce maintenance cost, increase asset availability, improve customer satisfaction, generate new service revenue and change to a usage-based business model with the Internet of Things (IoT) and SAP Predictive Maintenance and Service. Powered by SAP HANA in-memory technology, the solution analyzes large volumes of sensor data (such as temperature, vibration, or rotation speed) and issues an alert long before a machine breaks down. Combine sensor data with business information in your CRM, ERP, and enterprise asset management (EAM) systems – and move from reactive to predictive maintenance and service.”

How do SAP and industrial IoT merge to make predictive maintenance viable? A number of elements come into play.

Brands will easily monitor all of their devices that are connected to the IoT network. They can gauge their expected lifetime by determining when they go permanently off-line or users file reports.

By assessing the average life expectancy of their devices, they can create a maintenance schedule for all of their customers. This predictive maintenance calendar can Factor for a variety of relevant variables, including:

* The device model
* Age of the device
* Frequency of use
* Operating conditions that may cause fatigue

Manufacturers will need to experiment to calibrate their predictive maintenance schedules. As the perfect their models, they will be able to deliver more reliable predictive maintenance schedules for their customers.

SAP will give brands a better global understanding of the industrial IoT

The IoT transcends international boundaries. However, manufacturers face and number of conundrums as they expand into new markets. There global marketing strategies are often based on faulty assumptions about customer behavior in different regions.

The IoT gives them more granular insights into the behavior of their customers in other markets. This helps them develop more appropriate products, tailor their predictive maintenance and build more valuable relationships with third-party providers. http://bit.ly/2nlKKiR #SAP #SAPCloud #AI

Technology comes on leaps and bounds every single year. When you run a business your customers keep expecting more and more. You need to do everything you can to stay ahead of the competition. That means jumping on design trends while they’re hot.

You need to think carefully about your website right now. What little changes can you make that will help you progress? We’re going to look at a few big trends you should jump on. Implement these straight away and you’ll see great results.

1. You Need To Include Interactive Content

Anyone involved in web design realizes pages can’t be static any more. You don’t need to have interactive content scattered around the site, but it should definitely be on your homepage at the very least.

If you’re getting started the best option is interactive quizzes. Not only do visitors find them enjoyable, but your subscriber count will skyrocket. Do everything you can to collect more email addresses.

2. Mobile Sites Will Always Be Number One

After years of waiting mobile sites have finally taken over. If people are looking at your website it will likely be on a smartphone. When they buy something they’ll be doing it while away from their laptop.

That means when you’re designing a website mobile has to come before anything else. You might be forced into redesigning your entire site. Don’t worry if it’s necessary because your profits will shoot up faster.

3. Profession Photos Are An Absolute Must

You can’t get away with cheap photos any more. There are far too many people who can shoot professional photos with a smartphone. When you look at some websites they’re beautiful enough to take your breath away.

When people visit your site they’ll expect to see photos of a similar nature. Even if they’re not world class, they must look great. Computer screens keep improving and everyone will notice little details.

4. The Colors Are Becoming A Lot Bolder

Web designers have always treated colors the same way they treated fonts. They stuck with anything that was web-safe because we didn’t have the technology to take chances, but a whole new world has opened up.

You’ll see vibrant shades and supersaturation unlike anything websites have ever seen. It’s visible on a lot of large sites now. Eventually you’ll see small businesses with impressive color schemes.

5. It’s Now Impossible To Ignore Videos

You used to have a choice when it came to creating content. If you didn’t want to show your face on screen you could produce written content. In fact, there is no reason why you should stop writing content for your site.

It’s just a bad idea to ignore video these days, even if the thought of creating content scares you. It’s taking over the internet at high speed, so you need it on your website and social media platforms.

Focus On Those You’re Missing Right Now

If you aren’t using any of these trends at the moment you should start soon. Don’t wait until we get further into the year. They will have an immediate impact on your bottom line and you’ll want to maximize your profits. http://bit.ly/2EjKmZY #SAP #SAPCloud #AI