Effective deployment of IoT requires strategic planning and careful calculation

According to a September 2018 report published by MarketWatch, the global IoT market is expected to grow from $42.40 billion in 2017 to $542.84 billion by 2023. The research paper, IoT Monetization Market Research Report – Global Forecast to 2022, calculates the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for that forecast period will exceed 53%.

This extraordinary accelerated growth will be fueled by the escalating use of cloud platforms and interconnected networks and devices in businesses around the world. The ability to monetize the ever-increasing flow of data generated by interconnected devices will require a comprehensive and well-documented strategic plan. An effective IoT strategy will go a long way toward determining the winners and losers in what has become a global, data-driven competitive market.

However, as is to be expected from any quickly growing business technology, adoption of IoT and the monetization of the generated data it creates is bound to run into implementation problems. Determining how much to spend on IoT, when to spend it, and why you should spend it at all is going to require a systematic, rational, and continuing evaluation by every business enterprise.

SEE: Digital transformation research report 2018: Strategy, returns on investment, and challenges (Tech Pro Research)

IoT global market

Although the research shows tremendous growth in the global IoT market, there are signs that the absence of common communication standards and the lack of power-efficient devices is dampening some potential growth. When it comes to transforming massive streams of data into usable and profitable information, there are no guarantees of success in any business endeavor.

Additional research from Dynatrace shows that out of 10,000 surveyed consumers using IoT devices, some 64% have already experienced an IoT system failure, inducing severe and justified trust issues regarding the whole industry. Whether at the consumer level or within the business enterprise, a high rate of IoT failures is yet another factor that can undermine the global market for these devices.

SEE: Special report: Sensor’d enterprise: IoT, ML, and big data (free TechRepublic PDF)

The research suggests that just because a business can install IoT devices on its communications network, that doesn’t mean it makes both operational and financial sense to do so. At the very least, business enterprises should take the time to calculate the total cost of ownership (TCO) and their expected return on investment (ROI) before adding IoT devices to their network.

Tech Pro Research, premium sister site to TechRepublic, offers a downloadable tool, Enterprise IoT calculator: TCO and ROI, which can give your company’s decision makers the information they need to make an informed, documented, and justifiable choice regarding the deployment of IoT devices. The decision, both now and in the future, is too important to leave to chance, gut feelings, or happenstance.

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