How Can Solution Providers Start The IoT Conversation With Customers?
There is no denying that the Internet of Things has arrived to the channel. But starting a conversation with customers around launching an IoT services practice is still unfamiliar ground for many partners. At an IoT-focused panel at the XChange 2016 conference in San Antonio, Tex., IoT experts from the channel shared their experiences.
’It’s absolutely having the conversation at the corporate strategy level, not IT, not even product development,’ said Michael Lomonaco, Director of Marketing and Communications at Open Systems Technology.
Lomonaco said it’s crucial to hammer down the value proposition for customers, and to start small.
Luis Alvarez, President and CEO of Alvarez Technologies, said his SMB clients are directly impacted by consumer markets where IoT has a lot of buzz.
’They’re asking themselves, ’Why can’t we do this stuff in the office,’’ he said.
’It’s being brought to us by our clients,’ said CWPS CEO Jason Waldrop.
Waldrop said that, in particular, one of his customers that operates a chain of gas stations utilizes IoT technology to do everything from measuring the amount of gasoline in tanks to resetting prices overnight.