40% of Irish businesses to boost IoT deployment in 2017

Equinix, Inc., the global interconnection and data centre company, today announced the results of an independent survey of senior IT decision-makers in Ireland, which found 40% of Irish businesses will increase their IoT deployment in 2017. The study found that while almost three-quarters (74%) recognise that IoT will play a role in their business in the next five years, many are yet to implement a specific IoT strategy.

Almost half (47%) of companies admitted that they don’t have a specific IoT strategy and don’t expect to implement one in next five years. However, an additional 28% of companies don’t currently have an IoT strategy but do plan to implement one by 2021.

Currently, 33% of Irish enterprises deploy IoT technology within their business. Leading the way are retail (67%), education (60%) and healthcare (50%).

Asked about the benefits that IoT can bring, more than half (55%) of Irish enterprises listed operational efficiency as the greatest benefit, while 37% cited a reduction in maintenance and operations costs. A further 31% believe it helps businesses become more competitive. Of companies that use IoT, they report an average boost in productivity of seven hours per week per employee.

Asked what they perceive as the biggest barriers to IoT adoption, 34% of enterprises blamed a lack of understanding within their organisation, while 33% said they don’t think it is important enough to the business right now. A further 31% blamed a lack of relevant applications in their industry.

Maurice Mortell, managing director of Ireland and emerging markets, Equinix, said:

“A significant majority of enterprises understand the importance IoT to their future and that is why we are seeing more and more businesses planning to adopt and boost their IoT deployment. However, with just 33% of companies currently using IoT in their everyday business, it is evident that more needs to be done. The opportunities that IoT brings to the enterprise are immense and we are now at the point where companies simply cannot afford not to adopt an IoT strategy. IoT is not an IT fad, it is central to the enterprise of the future and business leaders must make it a priority to educate themselves on the benefits it can bring.

“IoT allows companies to produce innovative, user-friendly products, while collecting and analysing invaluable business, process and operational data that will help them stay one step ahead of the competition. The evidence is clear when we see that companies using IoT are reporting an average boost in productivity of seven hours per week per employee. Those who don’t act now will find that they are left behind.

“In order to get the most from their IoT strategy, businesses will require interconnection and edge computing, which moves IT resources closer to users and data. At Equinix, we enable edge computing through our Interconnection Oriented Architecture (IOA) – putting data where customers need it to be and therefore enabling real time analytics to capture new revenue opportunities. By giving companies the power to react in real time, IOA can deliver up to 300% ROI. Furthermore, companies struggling with IOT strategy and implementation should look for third-party experts to help along this journey. At Equinix, we have a team of Global Solution Architects that do just that.”

Many enterprises face similar challenges when adopting IoT as they do when looking to deploy efficient compute and network architectures that may not be exclusive to IoT workloads. As a result, Equinix created an Interconnection Oriented Architecture™ (IOA™) to provide a framework for building mesh hybrid IT environments in which people, locations, clouds and data can be interconnected over high-speed, low-latency connections securely, efficiently and cost-effectively.

Get a guidebook on how to build an IOA and help make the IoT as easy to deploy as possible by downloading the IOA Playbook.