Many Companies Don’t Track IoT Assets, Survey Finds

New research shows that many companies neglect to track IoT deployments, an issue that’s likely to impact their business when devices are stolen or break during their operation.

Tracking all deployed IoT devices seems like a default measure that any company should take. However, many deploy IoT hardware in the field but don’t follow up with tracking, leaving them open to potential business disruptions.

According to a global survey from Helium, Digital Matter and Semtec that compiled findings from a global survey of almost 600 IoT decision-makers and enthusiasts, 63 percent of respondents are actively researching asset-tracking solutions, with 46 percent seeking to address asset-tracking needs immediately or within the next three months.

“Preventing asset loss and theft, followed by enhancing operational efficiency are the two highest drivers of adoption,” the survey found. “Of the respondents already implementing asset tracking solutions, 69% of respondents are using either Cellular connectivity (40%) or LPWAN such as LoRaWAN (29%).”

The ability to track IoT devices helps businesses unlock insights that let them reduce operational costs, automate workflows, and squeeze the most value from existing assets. The most relevant statistic that the survey found is rather worrying, as 52 percent of respondents report not tracking assets. On the other hand, 25 percent of respondents say that IoT tracking is too expensive.

The biggest driver that pushes companies to invest in IoT tracking is loss or theft prevention (38 percent). The second reason, at 37 percent, is that asset tracking allows companies to increase operational efficiency.

Respondents included business decision-makers (owner, founder, CEO) and IT/Technical decision-makers (VP and Above, Director, Senior) from a range of industries such as hardware and software technologies, healthcare, transport and distribution, retail, agriculture and agribusiness, and more.