IoT solution deployment surges among enterprises

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Zebra Technologies Corporation released survey results that uncovered the vast majority of business decision makers understand and are in the process of deploying the Internet of Things (IoT) as part of their business strategy.

Zebra piloted an initial investigation into the understanding and adoption rate of IoT in enterprises in a 2012 study entitled “Building Value from Visibility,” which established a baseline for global IoT adoption in business. One of the data points showing the increase in IoT adoption over the past two years indicates that only 15 percent of surveyed firms had an IoT solution in place in 2012 - this number has increased to 25 percent in 2014.

Anders Gustafsson, CEO, Zebra Technologies said: “Over the last two years, there has been a growing need for organizations to obtain a full picture of their business operations. I believe that with these survey results, it is clear that enterprises in key industries globally are adopting Internet of Things solutions to arm themselves with the real-time data and intelligence to become smarter and more connected. At Zebra, we believe that IoT and visibility solutions can help businesses reach new levels of efficiency and deliver greater value for customers.”

Key findings:

Global firms recognize the transformational role of IoT solutions. Over 80 percent of surveyed firms believe that IoT solutions will be the most strategic technology initiative for their organization in a decade. These firms look to IoT solutions as a way to address a variety of strategic, operational, and business challenges.

Strong IoT solution deployment momentum among global firms. Nearly 65 percent of firms surveyed have deployed or are in the process of implementing IoT solutions. There is also strong IoT deployment momentum across the globe, with over 70 percent of Asia Pacific firms having an IoT solution in place, or being in the process of implementing an IoT solution. New cities, buildings, and infrastructure in many Asia Pacific countries have enabled this strong adoption rate. In comparison, 60 percent of North American, 52 percent of European and 71 percent of Latin American firms are in these same stages of IoT solution deployment.

Wi-Fi, real-time location tracking, and security sensors are important elements of IoT solutions. Of firms surveyed, 83 percent identify Wi-Fi infrastructure and real-time location tracking technologies as important or very important building blocks of IoT solutions. Sensor technologies to monitor assets and the surrounding environment were also pointed to as important or very important technology elements by over 80 percent of global firms.

Improved customer experience identified as top business benefit IoT can help achieve. Nearly half of the surveyed firms identified improved customer experience as one of the top five benefits of deploying IoT solutions. Supply chain optimization, visibility, loss prevention and cost efficiencies also were identified as top five benefits by between 44 percent and 46 percent of firms.

Key findings from India:

Firms in India show a particularly high rate of adoption, with more than 88 percent expected to have implemented IOT solutions with another expected to deploy with in a year. New cities, buildings, and infrastructure in many Asia Pacific countries have enabled this strong adoption rate.

India ranked Security Sensors location tracking as the most important element of IOT solutions, followed by Grid Sensors and Condition Sensors.

Improved customer experience identified as top business benefit IoT can help achieve, followed by improved delivery process, improved safety, Improved forecast accuracy and and improved regulatory compliance.

Indian firms surveyed listed Implementation complexity, IT Governance, Integration challenges, total cost concerns, and private and security concerns as the top 5 hurdles expected when implementing IOT solutions.