73% People Agreed that IoT Has Improved Their Businesses

These and many other insights are from the recently published Cisco Internet of Things (IoT) study, The Journey to IoT Value: Challenges, Breakthroughs, and Best Practices published on SlideShare last month. The study is based on a survey of 1,845 IT and business decision-makers in the United States, UK, and India. Industries included in the analysis include manufacturing, local government, retail/hospitality/sports, energy (utilities/oil & gas/mining), transportation, and health care. All respondents worked for organizations that are implementing or have completed IoT initiatives. 56% of all respondents are from enterprises. 

Key takeaways from the study include the following:

73% Are Using Internet Of Things Data To Improve Their Business. The data and insights gained from IoT are most often used for improving product quality or performance (47%), improving decision-making (46%) and lowering operational costs (45%). Improving or creating new customer relationships (44%) and reducing maintenance or downtime (42%) are also strategic areas where IoT is making a contribution today according to the Cisco study.

IT executives often see IoT initiatives as more successful (35%) than their line-of-business counterparts (15%). With IT concentrating on technologies and line-of-business users focused on strategy and business cases, the potential exists for differences of opinion regarding IoT initiatives’ value. The following graphic provides an overview of how stark these differences are.

Engaging with the IoT partner ecosystem in every phase of a project or initiative improves the probability of success. The most valuable phases to engage with ecosystem partners include strategic planning (60%), implementation and deployment (58%) and technical consulting or support (58%). The following graphic provides an overview of most and less successful organizations by their level of involvement in the IoT partner ecosystem.

Only 26% of all companies are successful with their IoT initiatives. The three best practices that lead to a successful IoT implementations include collaboration between IT and business, the availability of internal and external partnerships to gain IoT expertise; and a strong technology-focused culture.

60% of companies believe IoT projects look good on paper but prove more complex that expected. This finding underscores how critical it is for IT and line-of-business executives to have the same goals and objectives going into an IoT project. Being selective about which integration, technology, and professional services partners are chosen needs to be a shared priority between both IT and line-of-business executives.

Source: Forbes