The 2021 IoT opportunity

COVID-19 may have been the disruption to end all disruptions—but adapting to the pandemic has rocket-fuelled the IoT opportunity worldwide, and that opportunity will grow exponentially in 2021.

Because right now, IoT is unmatched at providing two things businesses need: safety, and efficiency. So much so that 84% of IoT adopters credit IoT as what’s kept their business going and operations running through the year.

Let’s take a look at the top IoT solutions that will continue to help businesses deal with the challenges presented by the pandemic in 2021.

There’s never been a more appropriate time for solutions that enable businesses and employees to work safely. Tech like remote temperature screening at entryways can keep floor-level employees safe from visitors with COVID-19 symptoms; combine it with facial recognition AI and you can prevent exposure for the whole two weeks that a person is contagious.

And sanitisation solutions are more critical than ever; so expect to see IoT soap and sanitiser dispensers that send out alerts when empty, along with authenticators that confirm whether kitchens, washrooms, and shop floors have been cleaned properly.

Not to mention, basic EPOS solutions that eliminate the need for cash are now a necessity for businesses to keep trading, and will play a key role in companies (especially retailers, restaurants, and the like) declaring themselves ‘COVID safe’ once things open up more in 2021.

As for the office, it’s estimated that in 2021 80% of businesses will run smart office solutions to enable their return-to-work; including HVAC systems that monitor air quality, smart spacing solutions that keep occupants safe distances from each other, and more.

What makes these solutions so strong for businesses is that they save time and money as well as lives. Take a smart meter solution: by removing the need to have a worker visit homes to take readings, both parties are safe from exposure to each other, and the energy company doesn’t need to spend resources on travel or processing the readings manually.

Filling out paper forms, counting heads with clipboards, and other time-consuming manual processes will be replaced with virtual queues for shoppers, capacity trackers in buildings, cameras with heatmaps, and more. Automation solves problems without wasting any resources or leaving room for human error—and that’s an efficiency businesses will need more than ever in 2021.

These solutions are key to bringing the world back to normal. They’re how we’ll get back to filling up sports stadiums and music venues, visiting cinemas and shopping centres, and seeing friends and family without worry.

Businesses are adopting IoT fast and the stakes have never been higher—but you don’t need to reinvent your business to take advantage of the IoT boom. Whatever vertical you specialise in, it’s guaranteed that you have potential IoT customers in your base who need safe, efficient IoT solutions to carry their business into the post-pandemic world.

And in all the tech we’ve covered, connectivity is the key ingredient.

Whether we’re talking simple proximity sensors or complex automation systems, IoT solutions need to be adaptive, reliable, and easily-deployed; and Multi-network connectivity makes checking these boxes a breeze.

Not to mention, your customers will need to equip themselves to work remotely for the foreseeable future, and often the basics won’t cut it; for example, they might need a hosted voice handset with 4G and a static IP.

And for many, working from home needs to become working from anywhere, anytime; people changing location and forming social bubbles can’t afford to worry about poor Wi-Fi wherever they need to set up shop, which again is where Multi-network connectivity comes in.

All in all, IoT is the perfect combination: hugely impactful with significant time and money savings, while being a breeze to provide and deploy. Take this chance to tap the growing IoT market now and secure your spot in one of the most important, profitable tech movements of the generation.

And if you’re not sure where to start? Check out this guide on bringing Multi-network SIMs to your customers. They’ll thank you for it!