The study was undertaken by independent research organisation Opinion Matters, among 250 UK and 250 USA-based senior decision makers and implementers of IoT strategy within five vertical markets.
Results suggest that UK organisations are being challenged by connectivity, device deployment and rollout to a greater extent than their US counterparts.
Key UK findings include:
- 85 per cent of respondents said IoT is a priority for their business
- 54 per cent of respondents are planning further projects in the next two to three years
- 91 per cent are planning budget increases for IoT initiatives; 41 per cent plan to boost spending between 50 and 100 per cent
- 99 per cent said Covid-19 has impacted their IoT plans; for 28 per cent it has accelerated IoT development; 30 per cent said investment plans have increased; 19 per cent had cancelled IoT initiatives
- 76 per cent said that their IoT project was at best only somewhat successful in meeting expectations and realising benefits
- Connectivity, device deployment and security were cited as top challenges
- 90 per cent had deployed fewer than 10,000 devices
The study found that the larger the project, the faster the acceleration. Increasing profits, reducing costs and delivering new lines of business were cited as business benefits of IoT projects, and cloud and remote access were cited as the top technology drivers by 48 per cent of UK respondents.
5G was the second highest driver in the UK with 42 per cent, compared to 35 per cent in the US where respondents rated LPWAN technologies and Intelligent Edge hardware higher.
Nick Earle, Eseye CEO, said that the results indicate a level of “maturity and eagerness” to fuel adoption plans in the UK, but that adoption is not without its challenges. “To this point cellular connectivity was a far bigger challenge for UK respondents than USA, with 41 per cent saying it was the biggest hurdle they had to overcome versus 29 per cent in the US,” he said in a statement.
“This is likely down to the fact that UK respondents are more multi-region with deployments than the USA, where deployments still tend to be national and focused on the domestic market.”
The full report can be downloaded here.