The end goal of your IoT journey is to transform not just physically, but mentally. You’ve connected the appropriate devices and identified the data that will provide the greatest value in terms of ROI. Now it’s time to tap into that data and begin making it a part of how your business works. If you understand how information can change the way you do business, you’ve made it to the final stage of the IoT journey.

“Born in the cloud” companies such as Lyft and Airbnb started with a disruptive mindset. Their creative approach allows them to adapt more rapidly. Now is the time for your organization to fully embrace a data-driven mindset. Regardless of the age or industry of your company, you can transform its mindset by being open to change. A business that is set up to capture and analyze information is simply better at adapting and can move more quickly. Consider traditional industries – banks and airlines, for example – that are used to doing things in a certain way. That historical mindset is difficult to break. But without asking the tough questions and making the difficult decisions, enterprise companies get stuck in a rut of doing business a certain way. They get left behind.

You may be collecting more data than you know what to do with. Collect it anyway. You might not understand the use for some of the data you are storing. Save it anyway. That data has tremendous value. The ability to call up collected information and identify historical performance trends is invaluable, both in the time it saves and the knowledge it provides. Instead of starting from scratch, data gives you the tools to start smarter, make faster decisions, and ultimately increase your bottom line.

In fact, a recent Keystone Strategy study suggests that companies that transform to a data-driven mindset are able to:

• Harness real-time data to deliver highly personalized customer experiences
• Optimize production runs based on forecasted demand
• Predict and minimize downtime
• Anticipate order fluctuations
• Empower employees with access to BI and data vis tools
• Keep pace with change

Legacy companies that aren’t open to change become irrelevant in a digital-first world. But those that can embrace change and transform their mindsets with a fully connected infrastructure are more nimble, respond to customers more quickly, and improve their overall performance. Companies across a wide range of industries are adopting a digital mindset that allows them to explore new territories, experiment with new concepts, and deliver products and services to customers in new ways.

The connected landscape presents challenges, but it also creates opportunities. And with a data-driven strategy, your organization is in a position to better align business processes with the pace of technology and remain relevant well into the future.

Microsoft Azure IoT is focused on helping enterprise companies differentiate themselves in a digital-first landscape. Download an excerpt of the IDC MarketScape report to learn more about the key players in IoT and how Microsoft can shorten your data journey.