By Sandeep Kalsi, CMO, iYogi

Technology trends tend to attract popular names that don’t describe the trend's actual capabilities, and the Internet of Things (IoT) is no exception. The name IoT would seem to describe an environment in which endless household and industrial items are Internet-enabled. Much of that is true – but the Internet of Things isn't really about the things.

Visualize the Internet of Things as a group of layers, with the Internet-enabled objects making up the bottom layer. In the case of the smart home, these might be consumer hardware items like garage door openers, HVAC systems, and home alarms, all of which contain small sensors that capture and transmit information. The second layer is a communication network that transmits the information generated by the device sensors. The third layer is big data analytics that makes sense out of the vast amounts of data, followed by a decision support platform that can be used to resolve problems on the fly.

The top layer is the one most visible to the consumer, and it generates the greatest potential for companies that want to create new revenue streams from IoT. The Intelligent Service Architecture represents the array of services the IoT framework can deliver. From the provider perspective, the ability to deliver a new generation of rich services is vastly more important (and more profitable) than the ability to deliver household items with embedded sensors.

Consumer household goods are often commodities, “buy once and forget" items that don’t provide a continuous revenue stream, and are highly competitive. Services, on the other hand, present an opportunity for recurring revenue, especially if those services are something consumers haven’t seen before. Located beyond conventional extended customer service and support, an entirely new category of service offerings is emerging – driven by IoT.

Services can range from platforms like the affordable XFinity Home – which manages a broad range of IoT-enabled devices, to more transparent service layers – that work behind the scenes to make sure everything operates smoothly, often uncovering and correcting unforeseen problems. It’s likely that the service offerings expected to emerge over the next few years haven’t been conceived yet. But telcos and other service providers will soon enjoy a tremendous period of new and profitable offerings, as the IoT service model continues to become more established.  

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