APAC companies reaping the benefits of IoT

Companies across Asia-Pacific are already seeing the benefits of IoT, according to a new report conducted by Forbes Insights.

Sponsored by Hitachi Vantara, the report found that 76% of APAC companies are operating IoT programs that generate revenue while 60% agree that IoT programs are generating data that is very useful to their business. As a result, 88% expect to see increases in their IoT budgets over the coming fiscal year.

“Across the Asia Pacific region, it is clear that executives see the value in IoT initiatives,” Forbes Media chief insights officer Bruce Rogers said.

“With 70% stating that they see IoT as either important or very important to their business, it is fast becoming a competitive differentiator that will affect almost every industry.”

The report also reveals that 70% of companies in the region believe IoT is important or very important to their current business, and 87% believe IoT will be important to the future of their business. Of all emerging technologies, executives in Asia Pacific believe IoT, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics will be the most important.

Nearly three quarters (72%) of respondents say their company has significant or pilot IoT programs in operation, and 11% say that IoT programs are already a major contributor to their business.

When building out IoT capabilities, companies say their greatest challenges are keeping the IoT secure (31%), ensuring cross-department cooperation (31%) and availability of skilled staff (31%). The inability to present a compelling return on investment (30%) and integration of disparate data (28%) are other significant challenges.