THE HARD TRUTH ABOUT IOT – OVERCOMING DEPLOYMENT CHALLENGES

Presented perspectives and lessons learned at a University of Wisconsin Madison E-Business Consortium Product Management event focused on the Internet of Things (IoT) and how companies can confront the tough realities of IoT and learn how you can turn deployment challenges into product success.

Abstract: For product managers working on connected and intelligent products, the journey from idea to market is rarely straightforward. While the promise of IoT remains enormous, the reality is that success depends on navigating a maze of practical challenges—connectivity, security, user adoption, and legacy integration among them. For PMs, these issues aren’t just technical details; they’re fundamental to delivering products that scale, perform reliably, and earn customer trust.

The gap between vision and execution is where many IoT initiatives stall. Pilot programs often show promise but struggle to scale due to latency, infrastructure bottlenecks, or integration pain points. Security adds another layer of complexity, requiring constant vigilance around firmware, data protection, and compliance. Product managers sit at the center of these issues, tasked with orchestrating cross-functional teams, balancing technical feasibility with market readiness, and aligning roadmaps to both customer needs and organizational capabilities.

In this session, you'll get to hear from and ask questions of Mark Benson, Head of Smart Things at Samsung, and Josh Marchok, Group Platform Manager of Connectivity Platforms at Milwaukee Tool around their experiences of deploying IoT-enabled products across a variety of scales and use cases and how they have overcome the challenges that come along with it.