Most companies plan to gather data for IoT projects; security, the main obstacle to adopt connected deployments

Some 71% of businesses worldwide are gathering Internet of Things (IoT) data, according to recent research. Half of the respondents cite security as the top impediment to IoT deployment, followed by the lack of return on investment (ROI) and benefits (41%).

Respondents with IoT initiatives underway expect their mean IoT-related spending to grow by a robust 33% over the next 12 months. Some 90% of enterprises will increase IoT spending over the next 12 months and 40% of respondents will raise IoT-related investment by 25% to 50% compared to 2016, the survey also shows.

Enterprises are split when asked about an IoT skills shortage: 54% who answered this question said a lack of trained IoT staff is not an issue for their organization, while 46% said they have difficulty filling IoT-related positions. The latter group identified IoT security and data analytics as the areas with the greatest dearth of expertise.

Some 68% of corporations use IoT data to optimize operations, such as preventative maintenance, downtime reduction in factory equipment and fleet management, the authors of the study say.

Some 42% of enterprises use IoT data to develop new products or enhance existing products and services.

“When it comes to IoT adoption, pragmatism rules”, says Laura DiDio, lead author of the study. “The survey data indicates enterprises currently use IoT for practical technology purposes that have an immediate and tangible impact on daily operational business efficiencies, economies of scale and increasing the revenue stream.”

The research was conducted in August-October 2016 by 451 Research on nearly 1,000 enterprise IT professionals worldwide.

“The Internet of Things has the potential to infringe on basic human rights and Internet principles by collecting data with an unprecedented level of details,” a recent Bitdefender report found. “We can learn more about someone than ever, based on the person”s intentional disclosure of eating habits, location, lifestyle, etc. as well as via metadata. And although fragmented data sources seem harmless, by aggregating them, cyber-criminals can create an invasive digital portrait of a person. The IoT expands the reach of surveillance and tracking, leaving users with few or no options to customize privacy settings or control what happens to their data.”