Announcing the First Project Workbook for IoT

After publishing “Building the Internet of Things” some 16 months ago, readers told me they gained a deeper understanding of why they should get moving with IoT projects. Going beyond the hype, the book underscored that IoT is real, success cases abound in multiple industries, and users are realizing new levels of business value.

While the book addressed key element to consider when implementing IoT solutions, there was a common thread to feedback from many: “This is great, but how about following up with a practical, step-by-step workbook?”

It was clear to me that although IoT deployments continue to gain traction, many companies still struggle to get their projects off the ground and uncover IoT’s transformational power. Business leaders as well as frontline business and operations managers charged with implementing IoT projects still needed more. They needed a simple playbook with a checklist of specific items before, during and after launching their IoT project.

As a result, today I am announcing the release of “Building the Internet of Things – A Project Workbook.” Consider this an instructional companion to my first book, providing an interactive, 15-step process on everything needed to identify, plan, roll out and evaluate the first or next IoT project in most any organization. It connects the dots from concept to completion and afterwards.

This workbook includes interactive activities, checklists, questions, guidance, and scoring systems to assess your IoT idea, evaluate the readiness of your technology and team, create a project plan, pull the various pieces and people together, and keep them going forward. This exercise, filled with graphics and charts over 42 pages, should be fun, fairly quick and useful for anyone passionate about capturing the potential value of IoT.

One unique feature of the book is an ROI Calculator, which helps quantify the value expected from IoT as well as assesses the actual value following implementation. With insights from Vernon Turner, principal and chief strategist, Causeway Connections and former IDC SVP of IoT, an online version of the ROI Calculator can be utilized in real time and shared with others can be found on my web site here. Another feature shows the types of benefits that can be captured from different IoT use cases,  whether they’re connected operations, remote operations, predictive analytics, or preventive maintenance. The brainchild for this nifty tool was conceived and developed by Ramesh Kaza, director of Advanced Services at Cisco.

During this workbook journey, I have also been gratified to partner with Elephant Scale, which specializes in corporate training and educational courses on big data, data analytics, machine learning, and now IoT. Elephant Scale developed course curricula based on both books for new training sessions on, “Leading the IoT Revolution.”

“This workbook can serve as a standalone guide to hit the ground running with your IoT project, while it also pairs perfectly with Maciej’s first book,” said Mark Kerzner, co-founder and president of Elephant Scale. “Together, the books provide a powerful combination of practical, how-to steps and contextual insights on successful IoT projects. With so much hype around IoT, it is exceedingly difficult to find a straightforward resource to augment big data and data science training programs. Now, we have the definitive guidebook on IoT that industry needs to start and scale their own IoT projects.”

My books—again like IoT itself—have been a labor of love. My ultimate goal has been to help build a “coalition of the willing” that collectively grows the IoT industry for both economic and social good. To date, most of the benefit have been incremental in nature through process and operational improvements. I believe we’re now approaching a turning point where the combination of IoT with AI, blockchain, fog computing and other new technologies can create transformational value, through new business models, new value propositions, new revenue streams, and new markets.

I hope others passionate about the IoT opportunity will use the workbook to jump start or accelerate their adventures, helping to bring the entire industry closer to widespread adoption and transformational results.

“Building the Internet of Things – A Project Workbook” can be purchased on major online retail sites, which can also be accessed from my web site. More insights from IoT insiders also can be found in my periodic newsletter and by joining this collaboration forum.

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