A normalised, aggregated data layer is required for companies to create hyperconnected Internet of Things (IoT) environments and effectively transition to digital enterprises, says multinational consultancy Deloitte South Africa Digital Transformation lead Gareth Rees.

Companies have digitised many of their systems and technologies, but these are often designed to operate in silos or are used for monitoring purposes. Data should be drawn from all these systems into a single layer from where it can be used by all systems and work flows, which will support the machine-learning and analytics systems required for IoT environments.

Digitalisation – the digital transformation of business processes and operations rather than merely using digital technologies – must be accompanied by initiatives to change how employees work, he emphasises.

“Start with the desired end state of the company, and reverse-engineer this to your current state to create a roadmap for digitalisation. This enables employees to prepare for changes and provides a framework for the changes they can expect to their work flows. Such a roadmap embodies the strategic goals of the business throughout digitalisation.”

Employees must be included in the projects and changes in work flows and processes to ensure that the new systems are used to their full potential. They must be part of the change process so that they understand how the new systems improve their productivity and do not replicate the inefficiencies of current business processes, highlights Rees.

The sheer scope of potential promised by IoT can threaten the coherence of initiatives, and companies must focus on effectively implementing specific and well-defined initiatives.

The initial areas of intervention for IoT systems should be to address the company’s main challenges or inefficiencies. These initial IoT projects help to establish a normalised data layer to which other systems and work flows will be connected as the business digitalises, says Rees.

“The benefit of digital systems – and specifically of IoT environments – is achieved by getting the systems to share information. This will improve all the processes through analytics, automation and machine learning, making the business and employees more efficient and productive.”

“Deloitte aims to improve companies’ agility by helping them to aggregate information from different islands of automation and make important information accessible in real time. A consolidated view of companies’ entire IoT ecosystem enables them to consolidate all business processes into one work flow application.”