IoT Analytics capability framework for

business value creation

Objective

Discover 1) what capabilities are needed for IoT Analytics initiatives and 2) what types of business value they create.


Research Question

What IoT Analytics capabilities lead to the creation of what types of business value?

Introduction

My name is Jesse Dijkstra and as part of my Master (MSc) studies in Data Science Management at Open University, I am conducting research on IoT Analytics. The literature study of this research has concluded, which means it is time to collect field data through interviews. In this capacity I am looking for people in organizations who work on IoT projects and apply analytics on IoT data.


Most of these (IoT, Data, Analytics) terminologies do not have a single understood definition, which means they can mean different things to different people. This study takes a broad perspective on IoT and Analytics. Below I explain some of the adopted definitions which might help to understand this research' scope.

Definitions

IoT Analytics Capability

An organization's particular ability to execute a distinguished part of an IoT and Analytics project through a combination of resources, for example data integration or project coordination.


This definition is based on a combination of definition as explained below.


Data Analytics

The process of developing insights generated from [...] data through a combination of architectures, tools, databases, analytical tools, applications, and methodologies. This can include descriptive, diagnostics, discovery, predictive, and prescriptive analytics (Siow et al., 2018).


Capabilities

A business capability is what a company needs to do to execute its business strategy (e.g., enable ePayments, tailor solutions at point of sale, demonstrate product concepts with customers, combine elastic and non-elastic materials side by side, etc.). Another way to think about a capability is that it is an assembly of people, process and technology for a specific purpose (Wikipedia).


An ability that an organization, person, or system possesses. Capabilities are typically expressed in general and high-level terms and typically require a combination of organization, people, processes, and technology to achieve. For example, marketing, customer contact, or outbound telemarketing. Capability Architecture: A highly detailed description of the architectural approach to realize a particular solution or solution aspect (TOGAF).


Internet of Things (IoT)

The vision of IoT is to connect any ‘thing’ and anyone at any time and place using any network and service through sensing technologies and smart components. All these data collected from these sensors and devices are distinct from other sources of data as they bring the physical world closer to users and organizations (Lu et al., 2018).


Note: IoT in this study can refer to a number of different environments and applications, whether it is actually called IoT, or has to do with Digital Twin, industrial automation, IT/OT environments, real-time data analytics, streaming analytics, etc. The main importance is that data is collected from 'things' or 'edge devices' which are different from regular IT environments such as laptops, computers, and typical (web) servers.


For your reference, if your situation fits this most basic architecture it will fit within the research.


The Why

Technological advancements in the past decade have made data and analytics one of the most promising investments for most organizations. And with the coming of the Internet of Things (IoT), new data analytics applications are starting to form which require specific capabilities and bring new sources of business value. Despite research on Data Analytics (DA) capabilities, there is a shortage of agreement on what constitutes these capabilities. Coincidently, managerial/organizational perspectives on Data Analytics within the IoT domain are largely missing.


This opens an opportunity to explore DA capabilities relevant for IoT and how IoT Analytics capabilities are potentially different or unique, including the types of business value these capabilities create.

Research

The main research question is 'What IoT Analytics capabilities lead to the creation of business value?' which will be answered through the following sub-research questions (SRQs).


  • SRQ1: What DA capabilities can be found in the literature?

  • SRQ2: What types of business value do DA capabilities?

  • SRQ3: How can DA capabilities and business value be integrated in a conceptual framework for IoTA?


These three questions have been answered through a literature study, resulting in the following generalized Data Analytics Capabilities and Business Value framework.

Data Analytics Capabilities and Business Value Framework based on literature study on (Big) Data, Analytics, and Business Intelligence

Purpose of the interviews

The following questions should be answered through the follow-up study.


  • SRQ4: What capabilities are needed for IoT Analytics?

  • SRQ5: What are the most important IoT analytics capabilities and what types of business value do they lead to?


The follow-up study consists of interviews which will be held with a number of organizations that work on IoT projects and apply at least some degree of analytics on IoT data. Ideally, each organization should have worked on IoT and analytics for longer than a year and have two to three relevant people available for interviews.


Before and during the interviews the above framework including capabilities will be further explained to help with questioning and discussing the most relevant information. Questions will look like this:


  • What business value has [organization] gained from IoT Analytics? How can these be categorized?

  • What are the first things that come to mind which have been absolutely crucial in your IoT Analytics initiatives?

  • What success factors have you observed in your IoT Analytics initiatives?

  • What barriers and challenges have you observed in your IoT Analytics initiatives?

  • Translating your answers to capabilities, what did you need to be capable of to solve XYZ business problem?

  • How did you build capability XYZ?



All interviews will be recorded, stored, processed, and analyzed locally - any processed and analyzed data will be fully anonimized.

Short survey

Below you will find a short survey with three main questions to determine the applicability of your organization to the research.