Business thinking bigger as IoT takes hold

50 billion connected devices. $19 trillion opportunity. All by 2020 according to industry pundits who routinely quote the figures at conferences worldwide.

The figures are eye-watering but in reality the Internet of Things (IoT) and the resulting ‘Iotification’ of consumers and enterprises is well advanced both globally and within the Australian market.

Australia has the opportunity to generate up to $120 billion in annual economic activity from the Internet of Things by 2025, according to KPMG, with Google Home, Tesla and Fitbit now servicing consumers and engineering, health, infrastructure, agriculture and energy just some of the industry sectors implementing IoT platforms, and connectivity.

Local technology research firm Telsyte says that Australian households are currently experiencing a major ‘revolution’ in IoT connected devices.

It estimates that the average Australian household in 2017 has 13.7 Internet connected devices with this number set to balloon to 30.7 by 2021, with 14.0 of these being IoT@Home device.

By 2021, in total, Australian households are expected to have 311 million connected devices, of which nearly half of these are expected to be new IoT@Home devices.

In total the value of the IoT@Home market in Australia will be $4.7bn by 2021, a sharp rise from the $377M in 2016, Telsyte says.

However we are set to reach “peak hype” according to recent research from the Gartner Group, which says that IoT platforms – the software systems that provide the interface and collect the data within and between devices and users - are reaching the “peak of inflated expectations”, reports IoTHub.

Gartner says that according to its Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2017 report, IoT Platforms will reach mainstream adoption within two to five years. The information held within the IoT Platforms - insights, information and data coming from connected devices - will provide a significant business opportunity as a result.

IoT Platforms, says Gartner, “facilitate the introduction of a new potentially transformative wave of innovation to enterprises and consumer businesses in the pursuit of digital business, smart business decisions and intelligent business operations”.

At the same time a recent McKinsey & Company survey in the US says while executives are keen to jump aboard IoT, most realise it’s going to take a lot of work to embed it into their businesses.

IoT is playing an increasing role in enterprises strategic road maps and new products with embedded IoT capabilities, could eventually translate into higher revenues, the survey found.

But its too early to see what useful impact enterprise IoT has or will have on business as most programs are only at the pilot stage. As well, the usefulness of the information that IoT sensors can provide has been brought into questions. 60 percent of respondent agreed that information from IoT sensors was valuable, 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.

And elsewhere 70 percent of respondents stated that companies have not yet integrated IoT solutions into their existing business work flows.

In short McKinsey says “our preliminary survey findings give reason to be optimistic about enterprise IoT’s growth.

“Respondents clearly believe in its power and companies are demonstrating their support through greater investment in IoT initiatives. With this shift, enterprise IoT may soon deliver far more transformational change than the incremental improvements seen to date, particularly with respect to increased productivity, an improved customer experience, and the creation of innovative products”.

References:

Telsyte IoT@Home coverage 2017: https://www.telsyte.com.au/announcements/2017/9/5/iothome-market-set-to-soar-with-more-than-300-million-connected-devices-in-australian-homes-by-2021

Crunch time for IoT platforms: Gartner: https://www.iothub.com.au/news/crunch-time-for-iot-platforms-gartner-471341

McKinsey&Co: Taking the Pulse of Enterprise IoT: http://www.mckinsey.com/global-themes/internet-of-things/our-insights/taking-the-pulse-of-enterprise-iot#0