The Internet of Things (IoT) will move toward mainstream adoption in 2016 for many industries, according to the findings of a recent survey by Gartner.
Although less than a third (29 per cent) of responding organisations are currently using IoT, an additional 14 per cent are planning to implement IoT in the coming 12 months, with an additional 21 per cent planning to implement after 2016.
In other words, the number of organisations adopting IoT will grow 50 per cent in 2016, reaching 43 per cent of organisations overall.
In aggregate, the majority of organisations (64 per cent) plan to eventually implement IoT. However, it is also important to note that another 38 per cent have no plans to implement IoT, including 9 per cent that see no relevance whatsoever in the technologies.
Industry adoption also varies widely with heavy industries such as utilities, oil and gas, and manufacturing leading adoption, and service-oriented light or "weightless" industries lagging.
Gartner estimates that slightly more than half (56 per cent) of businesses in asset-intensive "heavy" industries will have implemented IoT by the end of 2016, and approximately one-third (36 per cent) of "light" or "weightless" will do so.
For those organisations that have already implemented IoT, the primary business case is internally focused, namely improved efficiencies, cost savings and enhanced asset utilisation (52 per cent of total) versus the externally facing IoT benefits of enhancing customer experience or increasing revenue (40 per cent).
The survey found that the biggest IoT technology challenges for those that have already implemented IoT are cybersecurity, integration and managing business requirements. However, orchestration of workflows and processes looms as a major concern for those planning to implement IoT.