IoT Projects Expected to Deliver Payback in Less Than Three Years

According to a new Fujitsu survey1 published today, Internet of Things (IoT) technology has reached early mainstream, with business and IT leaders expecting tangible results in three years or less – signalling that the days of simply experimenting with IoT projects are now consigned to the past.

Fujitsu commissioned IDG Connect to better understand how IoT technology is maturing in the enterprise and to gauge industry expectations. The results confirm that the IoT has already matured far beyond being an emerging technology and underline that enterprises are increasingly impatient when it comes to IoT delivering a boost to their bottom line.

Almost three-quarters of respondents (73 per cent) confirmed that IoT deployments have advanced well beyond the testing and market education stages, with almost half of these delivering results. Underlining this increased focus on payback, the Fujitsu survey conducted by IDG Connect found that almost a third (31 per cent) expect a return from investments in IoT projects within one to two years, and 56 per cent expects profitability within three years.

Due to the complexity of the IoT, enterprises are turning to services and equipment providers to assist with deployments. However, the survey also indicates that suppliers are failing to deliver. Major concerns are the need for better support (24 per cent), closer collaboration so that vendors understand their customer’s unique needs (23 per cent), a call for lower pricing (20 per cent), greater contractual flexibility (17 percent) and more readily available as-a-service options (15 per cent).

Yves de Beauregard, Head of Digital Business Solutions at Fujitsu in EMEIA, comments: “IoT technologies are entering the early mainstream across a wide range of vertical industries, as our survey confirms. To drive the greatest value from IoT, Fujitsu is focused on deploying long-lasting, robust technologies that will ensure a maximum return for our customers. We are leveraging our deep technology experience and combining this with our customers’ business know-how. It’s clear from the survey results that enterprises are already enjoying the solid return on investment from IoT projects. This should be a compelling incentive to dip a toe in the water for any organization that’s still sceptical about getting any business value from the IoT.”

IoT now early mainstream across a wide spectrum of use cases

Fujitsu’s survey also reveals that businesses are using IoT for a wide range of purposes, far beyond the delivery of process efficiencies. In fact, the joint-highest survey responses were for improving health and safety (47 per cent), enhancing security (47 per cent), in using newly-available data to create smarter strategies (47 per cent), as well as improving maintenance (46 per cent).

In addition, 45 per cent of businesses are already using IoT to generate new revenue-making opportunities, and a quarter of respondents consider the biggest opportunity to be the ability to charge premium prices for valuable additions to products, data or services. Furthermore, just over a fifth (22 per cent) of respondents cited the ability to cost-effectively create better and more differentiated services to attract new customers.