A new survey from McKinsey & Company suggests that the enterprise Internet of Things is poised for strong growth. However, there remain many questions about the utility and impact of IoT in the enterprise since most companies are still in the early stages of implementation. To date, they have only achieved modest, incremental benefits from their enterprise IoT programs. With limited evidence of bottom-line impact, executives are cautious about increasing their enterprise IoT investments, and few have embarked on large-scale initiatives designed to transform their operations or enable new products and services.
- 98 percent of survey respondents reported that most companies within their industry include enterprise IoT initiatives in their strategic road maps.
- 92 percent stating that it would have a positive impact over the next three years, either by improving operations or by allowing companies to develop new products with embedded IoT capabilities.
- 62 percent of respondents stated that enterprise IoT’s impact will either be very high or transformative.
- 70 percent of respondents stated that companies have not yet integrated IoT solutions into their existing business work flows—in other words, they are not using enterprise IoT to optimize day-to-day tasks.
Despite these encouraging findings, our survey uncovered some reasons for concern—particularly with respect to how companies are using IoT data.
Respondents agreed that information from IoT sensors was valuable, with 60 percent stating that it provides significant insights, such as data on customer demographics or shopping patterns. But an almost equal number—54 percent—claimed that companies used 10 percent or less of this information. These findings are consistent with the evidence we have seen in the field.
The survey also uncovered serious capability gaps that could limit enterprise IoT’s potential.
The Programmable World 