The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of those acronyms which has captured the imagination of business and public alike, with ‘connected’ rhetoric fueled by everything from connected cars to wearables.
However, according to a report by HPE Aruba, IoT is going beyond industry hype, emerging as a technology which is good for efficiency, innovation and profitability.
In its ‘Internet of Things: Today and Tomorrow’ report, HPE Aruba found 57% of companies have adopted IoT technologies, with that number set to increase to a huge 85% by 2019.
Not only is adoption set to sky-rocket, but it is also going to add to a company’s bottom line. 72% believed that their company is now more profitable after adopting IoT technologies, with a further 73% saying that they had achieved cost savings.
Not only are businesses already finding that IoT is delivering, but expectations are high across the board. Over three-quarters (77%) of business leaders said that IoT was ‘just beginning’, and would transform business as we know it. Those looking to adopt IoT expect big things; 40% believe that IoT will help them expand into new markets, with a further 34% hoping to see overall industry growth because of IoT practices.
British technology pioneer Kevin Ashton said: “The Internet of Things is not only a new way to gather facts but also a way to gather new facts. Most data that is gathered automatically is data that has never been gathered before. When an organization adopts the Internet of Things, it gains knowledge where it was ignorant; moves from assumption to information; and understands new things.”
He added: “Internet of Things technologies, like the Internet itself, tend to be open, flexible, and easy to build upon. When an initial Internet of Things deployment uncovers new opportunities, it is relatively easy to expand the system to take advantage of them. There’s no need to say ‘I wish we had thought of that when we designed this thing.’”
However, the dangers present in unsecured IoT also had an impact on the survey. 52% of respondents believed that external attack is the greatest threat to their IoT systems, while a huge 84% have already experienced an IoT related breach. The most common IoT threats were attributed to malware (49%), spyware (38%), and human error 38%. As many as 93% of executives expect breaches in future.
HPE Aruba summarised by saying that the best way to ensure IoT can be enjoyed for its benefits is for businesses to create a company-wide dialogue, pointing to the fact that 70% of HR employees and 78% of finance employees had not even asked their IT department about IoT strategy as a case in point.
The report said: “The adoption of IoT looks set to accelerate between today and 2019, but perhaps a course correction is needed to maintain its growth.”
