Fourth survey by Vodafone reveals nearly nine in ten investing in IoT have increased their budgets over the last 12 months
Vodafone has found that three quarters of businesses believe taking advantage of the Internet of Things (IoT) is critical to the future success of any organisation.
This is according to its fourth IoT Barometer Report, which it claims is the leading global survey of business sentiment regarding innovation and investment in IoT.
It is based on independent research conducted with nearly 1,100 business makers, providing them with data they can use to benchmark their business and build their business case.
The Barometer Report revealed that almost nine in ten (89 per cent) of companies investing in IoT have increased their budgets over the last 12 months, while 63 per cent of IoT adopters are seeing “significant” returns on investment, up from 59 per cent in last year’s report.
It found IoT investment now accounts for 24 per cent of the average IT budgets, on a par with cloud computing or data analytics.
The report also found that IoT technologies play a “key role” in mainstream business activities in an increasing number of companies.
Nearly half (48 per cent) interviewed are using IoT technologies to support large-scale business transformation, rising to 61 per cent in the Asia Pacific region.
Just over half (52 per cent) of consumer electronics companies surveyed are using IoT technologies as the basis for a new generation of applications for connected homes, while 46 per cent of all companies say they intend to develop new IoT-based products and services over the next two years.
Vodafone Group IoT director Erik Brenneis said: “Three-quarters of the companies we interviewed now recognise that the Internet of Things is a new industrial revolution that will change how people work and live forever,
“Almost half the companies surveyed across multiple countries and sectors told us they’re already planning to bring connected network intelligence to millions of devices and processes over the next two years. 2016 is the year the Internet of Things entered the mainstream.”