The key findings of the study include:
• Since 2017, both internal and external-facing IoT adoption have advanced substantially. The score for the application of IoT to products and services jumped from 4.43 (“in planning”) in 2017 o 5.96 (just shy of “early implementation”), meaning the average company is now on the cusp of early implementation of IoT-powered products and services. The score for IoT adoption in internal operations (such as monitoring the status of plant and equipment, tracking energy consumption, etc) jumped even further, from 4.34 to 6.82, firmly in the “early implementation” bracket.
• This progress reflects increased investment. Of the executives surveyed, 82% say their organisations grew their IoT investment in the past three years, up from 62% who said the same in 2017. One in five businesses (20%) grew that investment by 50% or more. For 10%
of manufacturers, it more than doubled. This investment is delivering returns, respondents say: most agree either “somewhat” (38%) or “strongly” (19%) that their use of IoT has delivered “more than its expected return on investment”.
• A “path to business value” for the IoT has emerged. Companies’ first forays into the IoT typically focus on single, application-specific projects that provide a clear return on investment. But value increases as IoT data are merged with other data sets, incorporated into predictive or prescriptive analytics, and used to integrate processes that cross divisional and organisational boundaries. Successful companies are those that plan a multi-year path towards these higher-value capabilities.
