Microsoft Introduces Signals Research Report

Microsoft Corporation introduced their IoT Signals Research Report. This is a new report designed to provide a global overview of the IoT landscape.

The company surveyed over 3,000 IoT decision-makers in enterprise organizations in order to give the industry a holistic, market-level view of the IoT ecosystem. This includes adoption rates, related technology trends, challenges and the benefits of IoT.

The report indicates that IoT adoption is growing rapidly. Respondents of the survey for this report believe that 30 percent of their company’s revenue two years from now will be due to IoT. However, the industry faces a significant IoT skills gap. The industry also faces complexity and security challenges that may compromise business benefits to IoT if not addressed.

“IoT is transforming businesses in every industry and is powering breakthrough innovations,” said Sam George, head, Azure IoT. “Our research shows that unlocking IoT’s full potential requires the industry to address key challenges like the skills shortage, security concerns and solution complexity. Microsoft is leading the way on simplifying and securing IoT so that every business on the planet can benefit.”

What are the key findings of the “IoT Signals” report? 85 percent of respondents are in IoT adoption. Three-fourths of the respondents have IoT projects in planning. Among IoT adopters, 88 percent believe IoT is critical to business success. IoT adopters believe they will see a 30 percent ROI, which will be inclusive of cost savings and efficiencies in two years from now. Nearly all IoT adopters, or 97 percent have security concerns when implementing IoT. Although, this is not hindering adoption. 38 percent of IoT adopters cite complexity and technical challenges to using IoT as a barrier to further their IoT adoption. Lack of talent and training present challenges for half of IoT adopters. 47 percent of the respondents say there are not enough available skilled workers. Respondents believe critical technology drivers for IoT success in the next two years are AI, edge computing and 5G. Nearly one-third of projects or 30 percent of them fail in the proof-of-concept stage. This is often because implementation is expensive or bottom-line benefits are unclear.

The increase of IoT devices is enabling companies to bring cloud intelligence to the edge, to create solutions that are adaptive and responsive to their environments. “According to IDC’s Worldwide Global DataSphere IoT Devices and Data Forecast, IDC expects there to be 41.6 billion connected IoT devices by 2025 — growing at a rate of 8.9 percent over the forecast period,” said Carrie MacGillivray, Group VP, IoT, 5G and Mobility, IDC. “As the market continues to mature, IoT increasingly becomes the fabric enabling the exchange of information from ‘things’ to people and processes. Data becomes the common denominator — as it is captured, processed, and used from the nearest and farthest edges of the network to create value for industries, governments, and individuals’ lives.”