Part 1 - What does Big Data, The Internet of Things and Connectivity mean for business?
More to the point what has it got to do with vehicle tracking and running a fleet of vehicles? The answer is everything. Cutting through the jargon we are talking about the Internet and software making it possible for devices and systems to communicate and operate together i.e. data being exported from one place to another place, for some reason or other.
There will probably be more than 100 million connected vehicles on the road by 2016 and close to 25 billion sensors could be sharing data wirelessly by 2020, attached to everything from lights to vehicles to equipment to drivers. Some of the most practical (and valuable) applications are likely to come from transportation companies using connected devices to improve business processes.
The potential for fleet businesses is staggering simply because of the perfect marriage between man and machine. There are millions of connected devices already, capable of generating billions of pounds in service related revenue. Data is getting created from more places, in more ways, and in much bigger volume than ever before. We've got sensors on lots of things that didn't used to have sensors on them.
But in order to work with that data, you need to be able to catch it all. You need to be able to organise, process and analyse it all. The problem is one of perception and relevance -- connectivity is so big it's hard to see where it begins or ends and it's so dazzling and fascinating we don't know where to look first. The potential, however, is staring us right in the face.
Many businesses have already embraced, or will soon embrace the use of more data: social data, sensor data, historical data, transaction data, and more. As they attempt to increase customer retention, optimise processes and discover new sources of value, every data point, every piece of knowledge, is important.
The key is access and ease of use and the challenge for telematics in the future is to be able to provide this on a huge variety of devices, with different screen sizes and operating systems, while maintaining a simple-to-use product for the customer.
Increasing numbers of businesses are turning to telematics and the kind of data-generating software that comes with it as fleets look to take more control. This software creates reporting that enables fleet managers to understand much more about what is happening in their business as a whole, and not only with their vehicles and drivers. For a fleet business this could mean increasing the productivity of their entire network by monitoring their trucks' and drivers' every move.
And while trucks and vans may look the same, in the new brave new world of connectivity they now have hundreds of sensors. Analysing data about the vehicle, driver and, in the case of couriers and hauliers, even the transported goods. When devices and systems communicate and operate together in this way, every move allows a business to optimise their delivery cycles, increase productivity and reduce costs.
Think about it in these terms; depending on the size of your fleet, saving just one minute per driver per day over the course of a year could add up hundreds, thousands, even millions of pounds ??? it's the difference between a driver delivering 100 packages per day and 150.
To find out how telematics data can improve your business performance click here.
Image courtesy of www.theneweconomy.com