IoT is disrupting business processes, claims survey

The growth of the Internet of Things (IoT) is beginning to have an impact on the way technology is managed in businesses, a survey has found.

Conducted by Techanalysis Research in the US, 620 professionals involved in IoT projects at their respective companies were asked about the business processes surrounding connected devices.

Tech management shifting

According to the survey, two-thirds of IoT operations carried out by businesses – both medium and large – take place outside the IT department.

This is a dramatic change, as IT teams have been responsible for most elements of technology in the past, such as hardware used by employees and infrastructure software.

Digging into the research further, around 42 percent of projects are managed within departments such as operations and manufacturing, compared to 33 percent in IT and 25 percent in business strategy.

IoT plays key role in business

The majority of respondents (63 percent) believe that IoT is a key part in the strategies and goals of their companies, and more people are starting to become involved in this area of technology.

Businesses are also using these technologies as a way to change and improve corporate processes. 43 percent of projects are aimed at process quality improvement and 38 percent to save money.

There are still challenges

While there’s clearly growing interest in enterprise IoT, businesses still face challenges and can be skeptical about the effectiveness of their efforts. Firms mostly worry about the high costs of the Internet of Things, rather than the security implications.

Bob O’Donnell, president of Techanalysis Research, believes that the study shows that IoT is an important driver for businesses and that management of these projects is beginning to shift.

“IoT is clearly a key technology and strategy driver for businesses across many industries,” he said in a statement upon the release of the report.

“Yet it’s equally clear that the integration of IoT projects is starting to shift the centre of technological ‘power’ within most organisations outside of IT.

“I think what we’re trying to do with IoT is very exciting, but I am skeptical if the data that it will produce will be valuable or if it will show the same thing as our old data.”