Executive summary
IoT is at the core of digital transformation
From farm to fork, food producers are collecting and leveraging
data from tens of thousands of internet-connected sensors
to better manage the quality, safety and distribution of their
products worldwide.
Sprawling healthcare complexes are leveraging IoT-enabled
track and trace capabilities so medical personnel can quickly
locate critical emergency equipment needed for urgent
patient care.
Cities and communities are looking at ways to improve citizen
engagement, quality of life and safety while bridging the digital
divide through IoT and infrastructure upgrades.
Across the energy and construction industries, companies are
deploying IoT-connected unmanned aerial vehicles—“drones”—
instead of dispatching workers to perform inspections,
maintenance and other high-cost tasks.
Even the insurance industry has taken to the skies in a big
way, with 70% of Fortune 500 property & casualty companies
tapping network-connected drones to perform inspections
and other claims-related work1. It’s no longer a question of if
or when, but rather of just how deeply IoT will transform the
industry going forward.
No turning back
In our view, 2016 was the year IoT gained signi cant
momentum in the enterprise. In 2017, it is clear there is no
turning back. Businesses are laser-focused on IoT as an
enabler of sustainability, safety and economic growth—
with 73% of executives either researching or currently
deploying IoT, according to a survey of industry executives
commissioned by Verizon2. By digitizing their most important
assets and processes through IoT—everything from eet and
pharmaceutical tracking to data analytics that support public
safety and sustainability e orts, enterprises are banking on:
• Dramatically growing their businesses.
• Increasing operational e ciency.
• Delivering an unparalleled experience to partners and
customers.
Yet this is happening at a slower than expected pace.
Here’s why.
Most enterprise IoT projects are in the proof of concept or pilot
phase, not in production3.
In the industrial sector, in particular, “companies are often
constrained by long capital cycles, organizational inertia and
a shortage of talented sta that can develop and deploy IoT
solutions,” McKinsey & Company notes.
For now, businesses seem most focused on simpler use cases
to track data and send status alerts. These are easier to deploy
but lack data analytics capabilities. Yet, because these simpler
projects generate value more quickly, customers will remain
focused on them, at least for the immediate future, according to
the McKinsey & Company report. And this means they will not
obtain full value from IoT.