The Internet of Things is still on the upswing in the DACH region. More projects, a higher success rate and faster added value – that’s the record of success according to the current IoT study by Computerwoche & Co. There is no longer any company without IoT activities. But has the potential already been exhausted? What trends, obstacles and opportunities are emerging in the Internet of Things from an entrepreneurial perspective? Here you can read an excerpt of the most important results.
93% of the companies interviewed are satisfied with their IoT projects – a remarkable recognition for local IoT solution providers. After just three months, most companies are able to recognize significant added value. Two thirds do not develop their IoT projects in-house, but together with an external partner. Among medium-sized companies, 72% even rely on external specialists such as Device Insight.
Thanks to their IoT solutions, most companies benefit from more efficient business processes as well as better products and services. This means that companies can continue to focus on internal optimization in order to remain competitive. The opportunity to use IoT to open up new business models such as pay-per-use or equipment-as-a-service to ensure a better customer experience and win new customers remains largely unrecognized. Future-oriented companies can score points here, developing innovative offers in order to overtake the competition. Ideally, they work together with a partner who offers them business model and technology consulting from a single source.
According to the German COMPUTERWOCHE & Co. study IoT platforms remain the most important technology for the success of the Internet of Things. More than 40% of medium and large enterprises use an IoT platform, with most running multiple platforms in parallel. However, there is already a trend towards consolidation among large companies: In the future, a universal IoT platform will be used.
When selecting a suitable IoT platform, customers also take their cloud provider’s existing partnerships into account. Cloud diagnostic providers such as Device Insight cover a broad spectrum and can help make the decision easier. The most important decision criteria, however, is scalability. No matter whether 10 or 10,000 devices – an IoT platform must be able to grow with the requirements of the company.
According to the COMPUTERWOCHE study, the total number of IoT projects is also clearly on course for growth: 51% of the approximately 450 companies surveyed have already implemented IoT projects (previous year: 44%). Most of the projects were implemented across locations or countries. The focus was on quality assurance, Industry 4.0 and smart connected products – all areas that are part of Device Insight’s core business.
The conclusion of the current market study “Internet of Things 2020” in the DACH region is divided: On the one hand the success story of the IoT is confirmed, on the other hand it shows that many opportunities remain untapped. The added value of IoT as a cross-sectional technology, which also includes data analytics, AI and machine learning, is often overlooked, especially in conservative sectors such as mechanical engineering and plant construction. Industry 4.0 can hardly succeed without rethinking the entire organization. Only those who are prepared to question their entire value chain can further develop their business model and initiate new (data-based) models.
It remains to be hoped that the advantages of IoT will continue to spread and that small and medium-sized enterprises will not leave the pioneering role in digital transformation to the corporations alone.
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