Solutions, not technology: how IoT can help businesses succeed

Questions around digitalisation all too often jump to the conclusion that technology is the answer.

But digitalisation is about process transformation and technology is one of the tools that can help make the process execution more automated, reliable and consistent. 

Digitalisation is a journey that takes an organisation towards a more connected and efficient way of working and it’s as much about redefining the operating model and business processes as it is about the underlying technologies that are part of the solution.

This is especially true as businesses embark on their digitalisation journey with the Internet of Things (IoT).

The Internet of (new) Things

Today, we connect over 120 million IoT devices across the world.

During almost 15 years at Vodafone Business, I have seen IoT evolve from an innovative technology to an operational asset on which our customers rely to build their digital, future-proof, businesses.

Our recent survey was a great proof-point for this, with 87% of adopters saying IoT is now crucial to their future success.

The reason for this shift is IoT is no longer just about connecting things; it’s now at the core of the operational solutions that deliver our customers’ critical business outcomes.

This, however, dramatically changes the dynamics; as the reliance on IoT increases so does the need for providers to deliver performant in-life services.

Customers also need their IoT partners to understand their business better than ever before, so they know where to focus to deliver the outcomes that their customers’ customers want, consistently and reliably.

Meet our Centres of Competency

Knowing the network is no longer enough to support businesses’ digitalisation journeys.

IoT providers need to have detailed knowledge of the customer vertical, its requirements and the criticality of their processes to create solutions that provide the operational infrastructure on which they can rely and grow.

That’s why we’ve created a global network of Centres of Competency.

These specialised companies are not simply partners; they are leading organisations in which we have made substantial investments to expand our vertical expertise acquiring their knowledge, experience, solutions and capabilities.

Our centres complement our existing global ecosystem of technology partners, so we can provide the best possible service to our customers. Not just for the technical build but the operational run as they embed IoT into their business-critical digital processes.

Outcomes first

From the acquisition of Cobra in 2015 (now Vodafone Automotive) we have invested in four further Centres of Competency: Innovus, IoT.nxt, Mezzanine and Grandcentrix. These centres enable us to provide high value, connected, business solutions that can be used straight out of the box or rapidly configured to meet the exact needs of businesses.

Our Centres of Competency combine years of experience across multiple industries and customer projects to design, engineer and deliver customised and configured IoT solutions for businesses of any size covering healthcare, logistics, industrial and consumer solutions, manufacturing and agriculture.

These end-to-end solutions are designed for performance and scale whether on a small project or a large global deployment enabling any business large or small to advance along their digitalisation journey and take advantage of the benefits that come from digitalisation around IoT.

IoT is the enabler for digital operations

We support businesses across 182 countries and over 570 networks and are no strangers to helping companies of every size and operating model on their digitalisation journey.

We have invested in our Centres of Competency because, for us, offering IoT to our customers is about delivering business outcomes, not simply the technology, and we want to enable every organisation to take advantage of the benefits that IoT-powered digitalisation can bring.

IoT can help businesses succeed. And as the path towards a fairer, greener and more inclusive society goes via digitalisation, we are confident our Centres of Competency will play a key role in helping our customers future-proof their operation, maximise their advantage and create the sustainable, connected, businesses of the future.