Enhancing Customer Service through the Internet of Things and Digital Data Streams

Organizations are facing a new IT era of low-cost, small electronic devices with sensing, communications and computing capabilities, commonly known as the “Internet of Things” (IoT). Changes driven by the IoT will likely be far more profound than those brought about by previous IT eras. In particular, the digital data streams (DDSs) generated by the widespread adoption of IoT devices will create opportunities to transform the business landscape. To deliver their value proposition, IoT devices need four capabilities deployed in concert: identifying, sensing, communicating and computing. To harness the IoT and DDSs to business strategy, CIOs must focus not on technology, but on the business value potential of data generated in real time from DDSs. Previous work has identi ied ive archetypes of value creation through DDSs: DDS Generation, DDS Aggregation, Service, Ef iciency and Analytics. We contend that the DDSs stemming from the widespread adoption of the IoT can produce value in each of these areas. The full article describes how organizations can apply the Customer Service Life Cycle (CSLC) framework to harness the IoT to enhance customer experiences. The CSLC has four phases—Requirements, Acquisition, Ownership and Retirement, each of which is divided into several stages.