Businesses want IoT projects to pay back within three years: Fujitsu survey

The Internet of Things (IoT) technology has reached the early mainstream stage, with business and IT leaders expecting tangible results in three years or less, a new survey shows.

The survey by Japanese information and communication technology company Fujitsu signals that the days of simply experimenting with IoT projects are over.

Fujitsu said in a press release that the survey was conducted by IDG Connect to understand how IoT is maturing in the enterprise segment and to gauge industry expectations.

The research was undertaken in the summer of 2018. It surveyed 330 business and technology leaders from organisations with more than 250 employees in France, Germany, Iberia, India, the Nordics, the UAE and the UK.

The results underlined that enterprises are increasingly impatient when it comes to IoT adding to their bottom line, Fujitsu said.

Almost three-quarters of respondents said IoT deployments have advanced well beyond the testing and market education stages, with almost half of these delivering results.

The survey found that almost a third of the respondents expect a return from investments in IoT projects within one to two years, and 56% expect profitability within three years.

“It’s clear from the survey results that enterprises are already enjoying solid return on investment from IoT projects. This should be a compelling incentive to dip a toe in the water for any organization that’s still skeptical about getting any business value from the IoT,” said Yves de Beauregard, head of digital business solutions at Fujitsu for Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa.

According to the survey, enterprises are turning to services and equipment providers to assist with deployments. But the survey also indicated that suppliers are failing to deliver.

Fujitsu’s survey also revealed that businesses are using IoT for a wide range of purposes. The joint-highest survey responses were for improving health and safety, enhancing security and in using newly available data to create smarter strategies (47% each), as well as improving maintenance (46%).

In addition, 45% of businesses are already using IoT to generate new revenue-making opportunities, and a quarter of respondents consider the biggest opportunity to be the ability to charge premium prices for valuable additions to products, data or services.

Further, just over a fifth (22%) of the respondents cited the ability to cost-effectively create better and more differentiated services to attract new customers.