The #IoT bubble, with all its hype and expectation, is an opportunity for the pre-sales engineer (#salesengineering ) to develop new skills, find new challenges and opportunities to learn. It presents a rare occasion to enter a new market.
I am fortunate to be at the leading #LPWAN solution provider and have experienced this excitement first hand for the last couple of years. What was the attraction? Why would you wish to follow me into #IoT? I think you should consider it because:
- it’s a new technology that’s causing a revolution,
- you become a rare and valuable asset in the market,
- it’s always better in a growing industry.
The internet of Everything and Nothing
Like so many, I believed the mass of propaganda. Everything is going to be connected. We are entering a new era with billions of devices and sensors improving human existence. I still believe.
I know pre-sales engineers are passionate about their profession. Part of the burden of the pre-sales engineer is to make their dream become a reality. So, one of the earliest lessons I learnt was that the Internet of Everything can be overwhelming. No single line of business (LoB), potential customer, service provider, can provide the internet of everything from day 1.
If the pre-sales engineer presents an open-ended presentation about the wonderful technology and its untapped potential, the decision to buy becomes too immense, too complex. It involves too many decision-makers, too many LoB are impacted, no one budget can carry the project for all the others. It stagnates, stalls and becomes the Internet of Nothing. It becomes too hard to take the decision.
This post from earlier this year by Cisco, on the low rate of conversion for proof of concepts (PoC) https://newsroom.cisco.com/press-release-content?articleId=1847422, is an indication.
Focus on the Internet of One Thing
It soon became clear that the first step is to focus on the Internet of One Thing. What is the problem we are trying to solve? Who has the problem and how do they see the solution? Listening to this, gathering as much information as possible is key. It is almost certain that the thing we going to connect is in a field, factory, building, out in the street, somewhere. Probably not in a vertical market I know well. There are several components of the solution to consider, not least the extremities. At one extremity, who is going to use the solution and how. At the other extreme, the environmental considerations for the thing we will connect.
The other elements of the solution, the radio aspects, security, network server, billing, provisioning, orchestration, applications, etc. are the enablers of the solution. No one company provides all these elements. Early on I have to identify the partners in our ecosystem.
Proof of the Pudding
Connecting the pieces of the puzzle to get the customer to run a PoC or field trial for a few months was often a key step. The pre-sales engineer has to help define the architecture, the duration, the use cases, the success criteria and accompany the customer on their journey. Once completed we can all start the production roll out and go home fulfilled.
Yes, but Not tonight
If the PoC goes off track, and the decision to proceed does not happen, we must not consider it the end of the road. I have not read anywhere that the IoT predictions will never come true. I think that a prospect who has gone through a PoC process shares our vision – they have seen the potential for #IoT in their environment. We must note the conclusions, both good and bad, of the PoC. The rate of change, progress, and innovation in the IoT world is so great today that we can be sure we will be able to address the concerns in the near future. Put a date in the diary to call them regularly. If you don’t someone else will.
TrailBlazing Sponges
Each PoC gave me experience in a new vertical or new context so we must soak up every little piece of information, every anecdote, every piece of feedback. We add them to our store of background information, ready for the next opportunity, to better present our solution. We have to be at as many exhibitions and events as we can in every industry. We have to evangelize left, right and center as we cannot predict which market will deliver the IoT tipping point. There is good money on smart cities and industry but agriculture has been accelerating recently. There has not been an event yet where I have not been in a conversation and not been delighted by a use case that I never even dreamed of but just seemed so natural for the person talking to me. Something for another article I think.
Internet of many Solutions
All these use cases and solutions, the birth of new technologies and ideas are going to lead to success. The Internet of Things is coming. As it gets closer we will be able to better predict when. At the moment, it’s like a train on the tracks in the distance. We are convinced it’s coming but it’s difficult to see it move. Be reassured, it’s heading your way and you should be getting ready to board now.
