Why the Internet of Things is essential for your product’s success in a digital era

In today’s increasingly connected world, the Internet of Things transforms how businesses create value, optimise operations, and engage with customers. Let’s examine the potential of IoT digital products, including their ability to generate new revenue streams, enhance efficiency, improve research and development, and provide deeper user insights. Whether you are exploring IoT for the first time or seeking to refine your existing strategy, follow along for real-world examples, common challenges, and practical approaches to help you fully leverage the benefits of IoT in your products and business strategy.

What is the Internet of Things, and what is an IoT digital product?

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to a network of interconnected physical devices, appliances, industrial machinery and other items embedded with sensors and software that enable them to collect and exchange data over the internet.

And IoT digital products enable users to access and control those connected devices, for example, via mobile or web applications. This can be a smartwatch system that reminds you to exercise, a coffee machine that you can turn on via an app, or a cleaning robot that sends you a report of a job it has done or a notification that it needs maintenance.

The potential of IoT solutions is vast and prominently visible across many industries, including building automation, smart homes, healthcare, automotive, manufacturing, industrial IoT, agriculture, or energy.

94% of businesses have reported a return on their IoT investments, regardless of industry, in addition to the physical products they sell. The Internet of Things offers significant business value to these sectors by enabling remote control, telemetry data collection, fleet management, proactive maintenance, notifications about important events, automation of various tasks, and over-the-air firmware updates.

Incorporating digital solutions into business strategy as an extension of physical IoT products can offer several benefits, including:

• enhancing operational efficiency by reducing production, maintenance, and support costs,
• providing valuable data to understand product customers and users better
• creating an additional revenue stream by delivering value to customers through subscription-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions.

Example of IoT application in a green energy company

Our client, Corab, is a renewable energy company with a production capacity exceeding 4 GW of photovoltaic structures annually (to put this into perspective, 4 GW can provide energy to approximately 1.5 million households). Corab is investing in the green energy market by introducing new products such as inverters, micro-inverters, heat pumps, and energy storage solutions.

With our support, they successfully designed and implemented an IoT platform that:

• plays a crucial role in the manufacturing and provisioning process, leading to significant cost savings,
• enables the quick addition of new device types to the platform, making it easily extendable for future products,
• allows end users to control their installations remotely and enables Corab to collect data on device and user behaviour,
• and prepares them to participate in demand response programs.

Since the implementation of the platform, they have been able to scale freely and introduce new innovative products.

To learn more about the solution, you can check out the whole case study IT consulting services for a green energy company or read the interview with Piotr Beling, Director of Industry 4.0 – Digital Solutions.

Business opportunities and challenges among IoT companies

The example above is one of several IoT use cases we have observed over the past years of working with companies that incorporate Internet of Things solutions into their strategy. Let’s go through the five most common challenges we – and our clients – have faced.

IoT as a direct source of revenue

Know your clients and their needs. Based on that, design and build an IoT solution that addresses those requirements and is valuable enough to be offered as a subscription-based SaaS solution. It sounds easy, but the devil is in the details.

Nevertheless, many successful IoT digital products transform one-time customers into long-term subscribers. If you’d like to dive into IoT monetisation, read the article How to grow revenue with Internet of Things products.

IoT to save on maintenance costs or to enhance operational efficiency

Maintenance, operations, and support expenses can be reduced through real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance. According to a Deloitte report, predictive maintenance increases productivity by 25%, reduces breakdowns by 70%, and lowers maintenance costs by 25% on average.

Sensors and connectivity allow continuous data collection on equipment performance, enabling early detection of issues and ensuring maintenance is performed only when necessary. This approach minimises unexpected breakdowns, extends the lifespan of equipment, and lowers repair and replacement costs. Remote control and diagnostics help save time and reduce labour costs, and identifying and automating routine tasks, optimising resource use, notifying users about important events, and enabling machine-to-machine communication significantly enhances operational efficiency.

IoT as an input to R&D and product designing process

IoT products can significantly influence your research and development and product design processes. Digital twins accelerate time-to-market by:

• simulating how new devices will function in real environments,
• conducting integration tests with other systems that the device needs to communicate with,
• identifying potential failure points earlier in the design process.

Additionally, telemetry collected from IoT devices provides R&D teams with valuable real-time data on device performance, user behaviour, and environmental conditions. This enables teams to identify and address issues proactively. Such data-driven insights help refine product design, optimise functionality, and inform future development strategies.

Use IoT digital products to know your end user better

Customer experience is crucial for long-term relationships and satisfaction, so it deserves focused attention. Here, telemetry gatherers come into the game for the second time as they provide valuable insights into user behaviour.

Many companies still face challenges obtaining unbiased user feedback, identifying user pain points, and continuously enhancing the user experience. Alarmingly, more than 40% of businesses do not survey their customers at all, according to a report by HubSpot.

With IoT digital products, businesses can move beyond relying on user statements and instead observe user interactions with their products directly.

Figuring out IoT digitalisation strategy

The potential of IoT is undeniable, but success begins with a clear strategy and roadmap. Start by focusing on the low-hanging fruit – areas where IoT can deliver the greatest results quickly. If you already have an IoT digital product, take a closer look at its impact. Does it generate or save money effectively? Does it scale? Many businesses find improperly designed solutions become overly complex, with infrastructure costs eating into margins instead of enhancing them.

Navigating the IoT market, aligning stakeholders, and defining meaningful KPIs can be daunting, but expert guidance can simplify the process. From architecture planning and cost optimisation to security, AI integration, and UX design, the right support transforms scattered efforts into a cohesive strategy. A well-designed IoT solution provides clarity, measurable objectives, and a transparent project scope, ensuring your investment delivers immediate value and long-term scalability.

Build your Internet of Things solution with Spyrosoft experts

A well-executed IoT strategy offers immense value for businesses. It enables the development of more engaging products, leverages data to improve decision-making and customer understanding, opens up new revenue opportunities through digital services, and ensures you remain competitive in a fast-changing market.

The potential to significantly boost margins is clear, but success hinges on pursuing the right approach. IoT investments can spiral without careful planning, so it’s wise to navigate this journey with expert guidance. If any of these ideas resonate with you, don’t hesitate to reach out through the contact form below or explore our custom IoT solution development services.