Over half of companies already using IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) has been adopted by 61% of companies for "large-scale business transformation" in the APAC region, alongside almost half of firms in Europe, according to Vodafone's annual Barometer Report. In a survey of more than 1,096 companies across the world, 76% said that IoT would be "critical for future success," while 89% had increased their IoT budgets in the past year, with 63% seeing a "significant" ROI.

Internet of Things (IoT) is going to become critical for future success of businesses, believe 76% or more than three in four organisations around the world, said a new report by Vodafone on Thursday. IoT is usually defined as a network of "things" that includes devices, appliances, equipment, machinery of all forms and sizes that can connect and communicate with each other to perform a set of tasks. It is a new generation of devices and processes, which use connected network intelligence to deliver advanced capabilities.

Vodafone's 4th Annual Barometer Report is based on the survey conducted by Circle Research in April and May 2016 and entails more than 1,096 companies across Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, the UAE, the UK and the USA.

While "76% of all companies interviewed believe that taking advantage of IoT technologies will be critical for the future success of any organisation, about 89% of companies investing in IoT have increased their budgets over the last 12 months," the report said.

Meanwhile, 63% of IoT adopters are seeing "significant" returns on investment, up from 59% last year, the report said. IoT investment now accounts for 24% of the average IT budget, on par with cloud computing or data analytics.

Almost half the companies interviewed are using IoT technologies to support large-scale business transformation, while this figure rises to 61% in the Asia-Pacific region.

While 46% of all companies interviewed said they intend to develop new IoT-based products and services over the next two years, 52% of consumer electronics companies surveyed said they are using IoT technologies as the basis for a new generation of applications for connected homes, the report noted.