The Ace IoT Product Managers Have these Traits

Gone are the days when the Internet used to be a simple and separate entity. The world is now tilting towards the Internet of Everything, with a massive increase in the number of connected devices and data.

According to Statista, the total installed base of Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices is projected to amount to 75.44 billion worldwide by 2025!

Companies are launching new products or upgrading the existing ones to be in-sync with this revolution. Since this is an entirely new field, they are relying on expert IoT solution providers to help them out in their endeavor.

Take the instance of the automobile sector. An estimate by PWC states that the automotive industry spent around $46 billion on research and development of self-driving cars in 2015 alone. When these driverless cars take to the streets, they will require to collect and analyze an enormous amount of data using features such as sophisticated sensors. IoT is at the center of this and many such innovations.

And without an IoT Product Manager, the success of any IoT product remains a huge question mark.

How Is IoT Product Management Different?

The IoT Product Management is complex because of the broad and deep scope of IoT solutions. While IoT product management has the similar set of challenges as traditional product management, the scale is much larger because of the increased complexity of the product.

Let’s understand this in more detail.

IoT product managers are different in terms of their knowledge, roles, and responsibilities as opposed to the product managers of non-IoT products. They need to have a complete understanding of this fast-evolving IoT ecosystem and market trends. They should be able to lead the product development with a vision in mind, explore new opportunities, and recommend improvements.

That being said, here are some of the tell-tale traits of the best IoT product manager

• Is a great product manager A great product manager is experienced in systems engineering, product development, and loves to work in a fast-paced, agile environment. For the sharpest minds in the industry, innovation is their first aim, and they make sure that the team is always focused on achieving the best results. When it comes to the management of an IoT product, these product managers are able to lead the firm’s IoT hardware and software portfolio by defining the product, helping in developing and maintaining it, deciding the pricing, and planning for the go-to-market strategy. They work in close quarters with other product managers to bring the best solutions to the table.

• Is a domain expert Domain expertise is one of the main pillars that can take IoT products to the highest level. IoT product managers need to be domain experts to drive the success of their projects. It allows them to ask the right questions at the right time, identify the exact problems to solve, create value, focus on the best user experiences, confidently innovate, and come up with reliable products. Their wealth of knowledge ensures that the firm operates efficiently from the concept to the final implementation phase. Their domain expertise, along with the knowledge of the complete tech stack, including device hardware, software, cloud platform, cloud application, and communication protocols, helps them drive the best solutions.

• Understands how to manage cyber-physical systems One of the key differentiators between product manager and IoT product manager is the fact that the latter has to manage the complete range of cyber-physical systems, comprising of various hardware and software components. Think of a wide range of devices such as bridges, sensors, routing devices that comprise of the hardware parts used for managing certain key tasks. Or software parts, including the technology stack, databases, user interfaces, data analysis, etc. The ace IoT product managers are experienced in modern software stacks, understand the infrastructure services, know what the cloud has to offer, can work with third party suppliers and partners, and also have experience in project management using Agile/Scrum methodologies, etc.

• Has the ability to deal with and manage multiple internal as well as external stakeholders Since most of the IoT projects have big scopes, it involves more external and internal stakeholders, who will be involved closely in designing, creating, deploying, testing, or using the solutions. Think of devices’ partners, sensor providers, supply chain vendors, customer support, operations, security, compliances, and engineering, which are all essential aspects of the IoT ecosystem in any firm. The stakeholders are extremely diverse and the IoT product manager needs to ensure that everybody is on the same page, the right information flows smoothly between them, and there are no conflicts between the stakeholders. With the advancing IoT ecosystem, in the future, as more complex products are built, more roles will evolve.

• Has a sharp focus and understanding of securitySecurity is one of the topmost concerns when it comes to building IoT products. The products are more prone to receiving security threats due to the fact that the technology is new, the number of devices getting connected is increasing, companies are rolling out the products faster, and there is a dearth of experts who understand IoT security. A product manager with prior experience and expertise in handling the security aspects will be in a better place to prioritize security above all.

The Best IoT Development Services

Pratiti is one of the leading IoT solution providers in India.

Here we offer the best IoT product development services to our clients. We have with us the top minds in the industry working as IoT product managers. These tech experts will help you inch closer to your needs and offer you the best results that you are looking for. With their in-depth knowledge, we help you in making an informed choice in various focus areas, including – user experience, business, data, technology, security, and compliance.

Have any questions? Shoot them to us, and we’ll reach out to you!

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