IoT use is increasing as organisations seek to improve operational efficiencies and reduce costs.
IoT solutions are being used by organisations in a bid to mitigate the effects of economic slowdown, according to a new State of IoT Adoption Survey by Eseye that suggests IoT growth will surge over the next two years.
Over three quarters (78 per cent) of survey respondents expect to increase the number of devices in their Internet of Things estates in the next 18 months and larger IoT estates anticipate the strongest growth, with 95 per cent expecting IoT estates of 100,000+ devices to expand further.
Additionally, 76 per cent of respondents said they are prioritising Internet of Things in their business in the next 18 months, in an effort to reduce costs and increase operational efficiencies. However, the research revealed a profound change around the benefits derived from IoT in the last 12 months compared to last year’s report.
Nearly 9 in 10 (86 per cent) of respondents, this year, were more focused on operational efficiencies, reducing costs and increasing revenue and profit; turning to Internet of Things for stability. This is markedly different to the benefits in 2021, where respondents were perceiving that Internet of Things was delivering a competitive advantage. This is potentially a response to the worsening economic and geopolitical environment with organisations prioritising exploiting current assets to ensure the business is prepared for worsening economic conditions.
In line with this renewed focus budgets have increased for the second year running, with 96 per cent of respondents saying they plan to increase budgets in the next two years compared to 89 per cent in 2021. 51 per cent of respondents say they plan to boost spending by between 51 per cent and 100 per cent, compared to 44 per cent of organisations in 2021.
“The fact that businesses are forging ahead with projects, despite uncertain economic factors, is one of the strongest indicators that IoT is starting to realise its potential,” said Nick Earle, ceo of Eseye. “No longer a ‘nice to have’, our research found that Internet of Things is fundamental to business cases and the foundation for future performance across all sectors and industries surveyed.”
The study was undertaken by independent research organisation, Opinion Matters, among 500 UK and USA-based senior decision makers and implementers of IoT strategy in five vertical markets. Nearly two thirds of survey respondents (64%) stating that IoT is either mature or reaching maturity or that adoption is growing significantly with organisations looking at multiple projects.
Other key Internet of Thingsadoption findings include: 81 per cent of respondents said they have used managed or professional services for initial deployments or ongoing management; 31 per cent of respondents said support with professional services would make future Internet of Things initiatives more successful; 36 per cent said Private 5G/LTE access is the number 1 technology driver. This jumped from fourth to first place in the last year and 32 per cent said a single platform for all IoT connectivity would make future IoT initiatives more successful.
In last year’s survey, respondents cited challenges with device security, hardware design and device onboarding and testing and certification. This year these challenges persist, with security of device and environment the third most pressing challenge (22 per cent), followed by device onboarding (21 per cent), alongside hardware design (20 per cent. These complex IoT deployments have seen demand for professional and managed services soar with 81 per cent of respondents using them for initial deployments or ongoing management.
Eseye’s Infinity IoT Platform was recognised in the Juniper Research Future Digital Smart Cities & IoT Innovation Awards, where it won ‘Best IoT Security Platform (Platinum) and Eseye’s AnyNet+ eSIM solution was recognised by Kaleido Intelligence with Eseye named as a champion connectivity cellular IoT provider.
