The internet of Things (IoT) are accelerating technology disruption at a rapid pace when it comes to optimizing your operations. For example, field equipment once isolated and siloed, can now be connected on a continuous basis-enabling business to shift from merely reacting to events, to responding in real time or even preemptively.

As we think through the application of these capabilities, they hold the potential to reshape relationships with customers by supporting unprecedented levels of service – service that is able to be improved continuously by gathering data across a wide, dispersed set of end points, drawing insights through advanced analytics and then applying those learnings to introduce improvements on a continuous basis.

Arguably this is something software companies have done historically, but now organizations across a breadth of industries can take the same approach and tap into new efficiencies, such as applying machine learning to anticipate and solve customer issues before they become issues.