Building an IoT Innovation Capability in a Conglomerate

A $13B diversified industrial component supplier with over 100 autonomous business units needed a strategy to unite all business units behind a common and shared approach to developing an Internet of Things (IoT) platform and IoT solutions. They realized that independent IoT activities at the BU level would become a disaster and they wanted to create a corporate innovation model that would support and accelerate individual business IoT efforts at low cost.

What started out as an effort to examine IoT technology rapidly turned into a project to redefine the company’s innovation strategy to deal with the digital transformation occurring throughout the industrial world.

BY THE NUMBERS

Together, we produced the following outcomes

WHAT WE DID TOGETHER

A team of three people – one from the company and two from Inovo – led this effort to create a new approach to industrial IoT for the company. Together they did the following:

• Ecosystem engagements with over 25, highly selected internal and external subject matter experts.
• Deep and extensive Demand, Design and System research to uncover the possibilities of the technology and the needs and desires of the future customers
• Redefined the existing value network and potential business models to align with the new IoT world and corporate strategy and culture.
• Developed an IoT innovation strategy for corporate and business units.

THE OUTCOME

In the course of 5 months, the 3-person working team and an extended advisory team accomplished the following:

• Formed a new IoT division and made major investment in new IoT offering.
• Established a cross-business IoT network to guide IoT activities.
• Developed an IoT innovation strategy that will provide a common platform for corporate-wide IoT efforts.