For IoT projects, security and finding the right talent remain pressing concerns.
A new study by information technology research and advisory company 451 Research has revealed that 71 percent of enterprises are now gathering data for Internet of Things initiatives.
Despite the increase in IoT projects, 50 percent of respondents to the survey said security was still a big concern and cited it as the top impediment to IoT deployments. Roughly 41 percent cited concerns about return on investment as another determent to deployments. The study polled nearly 50,000 enterprise IT buyers and senior tech executives across the globe.
“When it comes to IoT adoption, pragmatism rules,” commented 451 research director and study lead author Laura DiDio to Telecompetitor. “The survey data indicates enterprises currently use IoT for practical technology purposes that have an immediate and tangible impact on daily operational business efficiencies, economies of scale and increasing the revenue stream.”
Respondents with IoT data initiatives in progress said they expect their company’s IoT-related spending to rise by at least one-third over the coming year. Analytics is playing a big role in those initiatives, the study found, with 69 percent saying they are collecting data from IoT endpoints for risk reduction, security assessments, and to comply with organizational and regulatory requirements.
Other key takeaways from the report include:
- 42 percent of enterprises use IoT data for product development or improvement.
- 68 percent of enterprises use IoT for operational efficiency and for predictive maintenance.
When asked if they felt there was a skills shortage in the IoT field, 54 percent said it wasn’t an issue for them, but 46 percent said they were having difficulty filling IoT-related job openings, and said security and analytics were the most difficult jobs to fill.
The overwhelming majority of respondents, 90 percent, said they will be increasing IoT spending in 2017, and 40 percent said that increase would be between 25 to 50 percent higher than 2016.
