IoT Is Important to the Future of Business: Study

The internet of things (IoT) is heralded as a foundational technology for breakthroughs in artificial intelligence, robotics and other potentially broadly applicable advances. But for frontline decision makers – the executives charged with implementing internet of things in their company – it can sometimes feel impossible to separate facts from the hype. It can be even more daunting to discern the practical steps required to get started with the internet of things in their business.

To better understand the current state of the internet of things, Forbes Insights partnered with Hitachi Vantara to survey more than 500 senior executives around the world, including 220 in the Asia Pacific who are leading internet of things initiatives within their companies.

A new report, “The Internet of Things: From Theory to Reality – How Companies Are Leveraging internet of things to Move Their Businesses Forward,” sponsored by Hitachi Vantara, highlights the key findings from this research and address the following issues:

• Is internet of things still an aspiration or is it becoming an operational reality?
• How is the internet of things being used within companies?
• What does internet of things implementation look like at this early stage?
• Are there companies that are more advanced with using these technologies?
• What are some of the implementation lessons learned?
• What are the practical steps companies can take as they begin their own IoT journey?

Key findings for the Asia Pacific:

• IoT impacts business: 70% of companies in the region believe internet of things is important or very important to their current business, and 87% believe internet of things will be important to the future of their business.
• IoT is one of the most important emerging technologies: Of all emerging technologies, executives in the Asia Pacific believe internet of things, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics will be the most important.
• Companies in the region are embracing internet of things: 72% of respondents say their company has significant or pilot internet of things programs in operation and 11% say that internet of things programs is already a major contributor to their business.
• Implementing IoT-based solutions can be challenging: When building out internet of things capabilities, companies say their greatest challenges are:
  • Keeping internet of things secure (31%)
  • Cross-department cooperation (31%)
  • Availability of skilled staff (31%)
  • Inability to present a compelling return on investment (30%)
  • Integration of disparate data (28%)

• Best practices to implementing IoT-based solutions: By examining companies with the internet of things initiatives that are meeting or exceeding expectations, we’ve identified a few practices they follow to ensure success:
  • IoT efforts are typically championed by the CTO (40%) and CIO (32%)
  • 42% include external vendors on their IoT planning team
  • 82% use a third-party platform as the basis for their IoT operations
• In the Asia Pacific, companies are already seeing the benefit of IoT: 76% are operating internet of things programs that generate revenue while 60% agree that IoT programs are generating data that is very useful to their business. As a result, 88% expect to see increases in their IoT budgets over the coming fiscal year.