The Drivers Behind Adoption Of Internet Of Things (IoT) Technologies

There is no doubt that Internet-of-Things (IoT) is going to play a huge part in connectivity for both personal and enterprise devices going forward. In an increasingly globalised and interconnected world, consumers are beginning to expect their devices to integrate seamlessly together, saving precious time to increase productivity or consumption.

The last few years have seen the adoption of IoT devices in the home in the form of smart speakers, smart TVs and home automation as a whole. The idea of the “smart home” is now household knowledge, with?the UK possessing 2.2 million of them. This has really brought IoT into the sights of businesses looking to increase efficiency for enterprise purposes.

What the Research Showed

Recent research from Inmarsat?into trends regarding the adoption of IoT by today’s businesses uncovered some interesting findings about the motivators and challenges that are faced by businesses looking to utilise Enterprise Internet-of-Things (EIoT). Taking themselves to the next level when it comes to productivity, sustainability and cost-efficiency.

Inmarsat’s report found that more than half (54%) of respondents had put down that cost efficiency was the primary motivation for the adoption of Internet of Things technologies. The next most prominent were both environmental sustainability and greater supply chain insight at 48% respectively. This demonstrates that businesses are beginning to collectively acknowledge the benefits of IoT, and the way in which its implementation can help them achieve business goals.

The research did however find that many organisations are encountering several barriers when deploying IoT solutions in their businesses. The main being a lack of in house skills to maintain and troubleshoot IoT systems (37%) and lack of reliable connectivity (24%). What this shows is that although there are numerous benefits to adopting EIoT, there are still improvements that need to be made to infrastructure and a change in the way we approach the workforce in relation to businesses that begin utilising it.

The study showed there is clearly a skills gap in regard to in-house support for IoT solutions, particularly in those without a clear IoT strategy. Almost half of this group continues to struggle to effectively implement and maintain IoT projects, whereas only a fifth of those that had a formal plan experienced the same.

If we look at the findings that studied organisations using Internet of Things devices for cost efficiencies and environmental sustainability, around half felt that their investments were in line with or above the expected outcomes. However, for businesses that had a proper plan in place for IoT adoption, these figures were higher, at over 70% for each. To match this, those not experiencing issues with connectivity also achieved a similar result for both aims. This is promising but 25% of all those surveyed lacked consistent and reliable connectivity.

Our Take

The trends and information that this data shows are extremely insightful about the state of IoT and in particular regarding its uses in an enterprise capacity. The positives show that there is clearly a demand for EIoT services and demonstrable benefits to adopting it when it comes to cost efficiency and environmental sustainability. Once more businesses start to go down this route, innovation and efficiency will inevitably follow.

The struggles that businesses have been facing in their adoption and post-deployment of IoT present a number of opportunities for service providers and IoT technology innovators.

One of the main issues was a lack of skills to implement and maintain IoT for enterprise projects, if companies want to reap its benefits there needs to be more time and resources put into developing a clear IoT strategy and how its uses fit in with the greater business strategy as a whole. It would also seem that there are opportunities for third parties to offer IoT strategy as a service so that it becomes accessible to SMEs as well.

Satcom and Telecom providers should be looking at this as a golden opportunity to strengthen their offerings and tailor them to IoT devices. The data shows that there are absolutely gains to be had with a well-thought-out, formal Internet of Things plan, as long as there is strong and reliable connectivity to deliver it. Satcom service providers that can offer high-speed data communications across the globe in both urban and remote locations and everywhere in between will be in an unmatched position to cater to most every industry. In a rapidly growing, exciting sector with huge upward mobility, the possibilities appear to be almost endless.?Inmarsat’s ELERA?is a prime example of a connectivity service that could be used to run EIoT devices.

We’re extremely excited to see the way in which EIoT develops over the coming years and it is clearly going to have numerous benefits for commerce, the environment and critical activities. If you are a Satellite or Telecommunications professional you can?find all of our relevant vacancies here, or if you would like to speak to us regarding our staffing services, you can reach us by?filling out this form.