(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/David Crespo Nieto)
Vodafone has published its fourth annual IoT Barometer Report, assessing how businesses view Internet of Things (IoT) developments. The study reveals that 76 percent of companies consider the IoT to be “critical” to their future success.
While many already acknowledge the IoT’s importance and potential benefits, it may surprise some that more than three quarters of surveyed organizations now regard it as essential to future competitiveness.
Erik Brenneis, Vodafone Group IoT Director, commented: “Three-quarters of the companies we interviewed now recognize that the Internet of Things represents a new industrial revolution that will change how people work and live, and nearly half of the organizations we surveyed across countries and sectors plan to connect millions of devices and processes within the next two years. 2016 marks the year the Internet of Things entered the mainstream.”
Reflecting this shift in priorities, 89 percent of companies surveyed said they increased their budgets over the past 12 months to support IoT initiatives. On average, 24 percent of IT budgets are now allocated to IoT technologies—comparable to spending on cloud computing or data analytics.
This level of investment is delivering measurable results for many organizations. Among companies that have deployed IoT solutions, 63 percent reported “significant” returns, up from 59 percent in last year’s IoT Barometer.
Key findings from Vodafone’s report include:
- 48 percent of companies surveyed are using IoT technologies to drive large-scale business transformation, rising to 61 percent in the Asia-Pacific region;
- 52 percent of consumer electronics firms are using IoT as the foundation for a new generation of connected home applications;
- 46 percent of all companies intend to develop new IoT-based products and services within the next two years.
The survey was carried out by Circle Research in April and May 2016 and included more than 1,096 companies across Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, the UAE, the UK and the USA.
The full report is available from Vodafone’s IoT Barometer 2016.
Are you surprised by Vodafone’s latest findings? Share your thoughts in the comments.