IoT is heading for mass adoption by 2019 says Aruba

Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, has published the results of a survey looking at adoption levels, security concerns and business use cases for the Internet of Things across EMEA. Among its findings is that mass adoption of IoT is expected by 2019, with better than expected business results a key driver. The study was conducted with Kevin Ashton, creator of the term Internet of Things.

IoT is consistently over-delivering

The research revealed that IoT deployments delivered benefits that vastly exceeded expectations in the two key performance areas of business efficiency and profitability.

It found that while 16 percent of business leaders projected a large profit gain from their IoT investment, after IoT had been adopted 32 percent of executives said they saw profit increases.

And, while 29 percent of executives expected their IoT strategies to result in business efficiency improvements, after deployment 46 percent said that they experienced efficiency gains.

Internet of Business spoke to Morten Illum, EMEA Vice President at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company about this anomaly. He told us this “shows that the hype is not misplaced when IoT is used in the correct manner. The only way that IoT can fall short of expectations is if we don’t sufficiently use the data that the sensors are gathering from their surroundings. The onus is on us to make use of the data created to realize our own high hopes.”

It’s an obstacle race

Despite the gains to be made from implementing IoT, the research revealed that there are still many obstacles that stop it being implemented. Cost of implementation was reported as one of these by 50 percent, maintenance by 44 percent and integration of legacy technology by 43 percent.

Data, which is the central plank of the IoT, also presents issues for many organisations. While 98 percent of organizations that have adopted IoT claim that they can analyse data, 97 percent feel there are challenges to creating value from this data.

Security is also a significant issue, with 84 percent reporting that they had experienced an IoT related security breach. Not surprisingly with that figure in mind, more than half said that external attacks are a key barrier to moving forward with an IoT strategy.

Reacting to this, Morten Illum told Internet of Business, “It’s clear that companies need more information about the devices connecting to their network. Network managers require the ability to create policies/permissions around each of them, so that if a device is compromised by malware or human error, it can be identified and removed from the wider network.”

The situation in 2019

Despite these challenges the report concludes that 85 percent of businesses plan to implement IoT by 2019, driven by a need for innovation and business efficiency.

77 percent of businesses believe it will allow them to transform offices into smart workplaces. 59 percent say IoT will allow them to increase employee productivity, 40 percent expect it to help with growing the business, and 20 percent see it as improving worker’s ability to collaborate.

The challenge, Chris Kozup, vice president of marketing at Aruba, points out, is working out the right strategy for IoT. Commenting on the report he said, “With many executives unsure of how to apply IoT to their business, those who succeed in implementing IoT are well positioned to gain a competitive advantage.”