This is evident from a global study by IDG Connect commissioned by Fujitsu among 330 business leaders and IT experts working at companies with more than 250 employees. A quarter of the respondents say they would like better support from their IoT service provider(s).
IoT partners
According to the study, IoT is no longer just for 'early adopters'. No less than 73 percent of respondents indicate that IoT projects have now passed the stage of merely testing and experimenting. More than half of the respondents are already delivering tangible results. The short time that an IoT project is given to become profitable, according to the study, shows that there is no longer room to just experiment with IoT nowadays.
Due to the complexity of IoT, more and more companies are collaborating with IoT partners/service providers. However, the study shows that there is still plenty of room for improvement with these parties. Almost a quarter (24 percent) of respondents say they want better assistance from their IoT partner, 23 percent want closer collaboration, 17 percent want more contractual flexibility, and as many as one in five want lower costs.
IoT usage
Furthermore, it appears that companies are using IoT for an increasing number of reasons. 47 percent of respondents cite improving health and safety as the main reason. Other important reasons include: reducing security risks (47 percent), developing smarter strategies (47 percent), and better maintenance (46 percent).
Interestingly, a quarter of respondents see the ability to charge premium prices for important products, data, and/or services as the main advantage of IoT. Only 22 percent mention the ability to offer better and more differentiated services at lower costs as the main advantage.
