Lightweights vs. Heavyweights: How do they stack up on IoT?

MUMBAI, INDIA: Although less than a third (29 per cent) of responding organizations are currently using IoT, an additional 14 per cent are planning to implement IoT in the coming 12 months, with an additional 21 per cent planning to implement after 2016. In aggregate, the majority of organizations (64 per cent) plan to eventually implement IoT.

The Internet of Things (IoT) will move toward mainstream adoption in 2016 for many industries, according to the findings of a recent survey by Gartner, Inc. based on responses from 465 IT and business professionals spanning 18 bLusiness sectors in North America, EMEA, Asia/Pacific and Latin America.

However, it is also important to note that another 38 per cent have no plans to implement IoT, including nine percent that see no relevance whatsoever in the technologies.

"While there is near universal acceptance of the importance of the IoT, less than a third of organizations surveyed were actively exploiting it," said Chet Geschickter, research director at Gartner. "This is largely because of two reasons. The first set of hurdles are business-related. Many organizations have yet to establish a clear picture of what benefits the IoT can deliver, or have not yet invested the time to develop ideas for how to apply IoT to their business. The second set of hurdles are the organizations themselves. Many of the survey participants have insufficient expertise and staffing for IoT and lack clear leadership."

Industry adoption also varies widely with heavy industries such as utilities, oil and gas, and manufacturing leading adoption, and service-oriented light or "weightless" industries lagging. Gartner estimates that slightly more than half (56 per cent) of businesses in asset-intensive "heavy" industries will have implemented IoT by the end of 2016, and approximately one-third (36 per cent) of "light" or "weightless" will do so.

For those organizations that have already implemented IoT, the focus has been on internal operational improvements over external customer-facing objectives. To date, the primary business case for IoT is internally focused, namely improved efficiencies, cost savings and enhanced asset utilization (52 per cent of total) versus the externally facing IoT benefits of enhancing customer experience or increasing revenue (40 per cent).

"However, we are poised for a marked shift in focus toward customer-facing benefits for planned IoT implementations, positioning IoT as a key competitive marketplace weapon going forward," said Jim Tully, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "The survey shows a dramatic jump in focus on customer experience, doubling in nominal terms from 18 per cent to 34 per cent. This indicates that we can expect a much higher IoT focus on end customers during the next 12 months. In effect, IoT programs and processes will become competitive marketplace weapons starting in 2016."

The survey found that the biggest IoT technology challenges for those that have already implemented IoT are cybersecurity, integration and managing business requirements. However, orchestration of workflows and processes looms as a major concern for those planning to implement IoT.