The IoT Sophistication Index
Tap or hover over a band to find out more.
This year we developed our IoT Sophistication Index. This assesses companies on strategy and implementation and places them into one of five sophistication bands — hover over/tap the diagram to find out more about the bands.
Organisations of all kinds report seeing significant benefits from IoT, but there's a clear correlation between the scale of rewards seen and sophistication. Answer our simple questionnaire and compare how you're doing against your competitors.
Band A: Most sophisticated Band B: Very sophisticated Band C: Intermediate Band D: Beginners Band E: Still considering
Likely to have been an early adopter, and have scaled up their investment in the last year. Typically have multiple full-scale projects and see IoT as mission-critical. They're most likely to be using IoT data with analytics to support decision making. Likely to have been an early adopter, and have scaled up their investment in the last year. Most have embedded IoT within the wider business and see it as mission-critical. They're likely to be using IoT data with analytics to support decision making. Most companies in this band already have at least one full-scale IoT programme in place. They typically have an IoT strategy in place and are working towards implementing it. They're probably using IoT to meet more than one business objective. This band includes companies making plans to adopt IoT within the next 12 months and those just starting out — they may have a pilot or small-scale trial, but haven't rolled IoT out fully or integrated it with core business systems. Companies in this sophistication band haven't adopted IoT or developed an IoT strategy yet. Most have considered it, but don't have plans to implement within the next two years. Just 2% have actually decided against it.
Adoption is going up. Quickly.
Since the previous IoT Barometer, adoption has leapt 5 percentage points to 34%.
All round the world, across many industries, IoT is becoming critical to innovation and business success.
Scroll down to see adoption by region and industry.
Asia Pacific stays ahead.
Out in front is Asia Pacific (APAC), at 43%. The Americas saw the biggest increase, going up 17 percentage points to 40%. EMEA is lagging behind at 26%.
Click on the items in the legend to create your own chart.
Transport/logistics is out in front.
By industry, transport and logistics has the highest IoT adoption rate, at 42%. That's likely due to intense competition in this sector and rising customer expectations. IoT-enabled services like apps that give real-time information on train or bus arrivals, or allow the tracking of deliveries or shipments, are quickly becoming mainstream.
Manufacturing and industrials isn't far behind, with IoT adoption at 39%. Companies in these industries are under increasing pressure to get products to market faster and deliver greater personalisation, which IoT is enabling.
Click on the items in the legend to look at your industry and compare it with others.
Once you get started…
You can't stop. Not only has adoption surged in the past year, companies using IoT are doing more of it. Four in every five adopters (80%) say they have more live IoT projects than 12 months ago.
Manufacturing and industrials is the most likely to have more IoT projects. IoT is fundamental to new technologies, like digital twins, that are making it easier and faster to innovate and get new products to market.
All Automotive Energy & utilities Finance Healthcare Manufacturing Retail Transport and logistics
Click on the items in the legend to see what's happening in your industry and create your own chart.
Not just more projects.
Across every industry, well over three-quarters of adopters report that the scale of their IoT projects has grown in the past 12 months. Having demonstrated the possible returns of IoT with pilots and smaller-scale implementations, many companies are expanding. They are moving projects to production and starting larger, more ambitious implementations.
Finance is one of the industries most likely to have seen a growth in the scale of their projects. It's playing an important role in enabling finance companies to differentiate their services. For example, insurers are increasingly using IoT data to roll out new usage-based policies. And IoT data is also helping retail banks deliver more secure and improved customer experiences.
Adopters are investing more.
79% of adopters say they're spending more on IoT than 12 months ago. It's adopters in transport and logistics — the industry with the highest adoption rate — where companies are most likely to have increased their investment. Here, 82% have upped IoT spending.
All Automotive Energy & utilities Finance Healthcare Manufacturing Retail Transport and logistics
Click on the legend to see how your industry compares, then click the download icon to print or save your bespoke chart.
IoT is critical to future success.
As adopters continue to scale up and integrate IoT with their core business systems and objectives, it's becoming key to competitiveness. This year, 83% of adopters said IoT is critical to their future success.
Every industry recognises IoT's importance. For example, over four fifths of adopters in finance and insurance (82%) agree it's critical to their future success — 38% strongly agree. Here IoT is being increasingly used to roll out new financial products and to manage risk.
All Automotive Energy & utilities Finance Healthcare Manufacturing Retail Transport and logistics
Click on your industry above to see how your peers rate IoT's importance to their future success — and then download it to use in your own reports.
That's something every region agrees on.
Adopters in the Americas (87%) are the most likely to think their future success will depend heavily on IoT. But APAC and EMEA aren't far behind. In every region, at least four-fifths of adopters are convinced of IoT's importance.
Take a closer look at the picture by region by clicking on the tabs in the chart legend.
And reliance on IoT is growing.
Adopters in energy and utilities are the most likely to have experienced better insights, lower opex costs and organic growth thanks to IoT. Here, many of the latest initiatives — from smart meters and smart grids, to monitoring remote infrastructure — rely on IoT.
But they aren't alone. Over four-fifths (82%) of adopters say their reliance on IoT has grown.
Compare your industry with others, click the legend to switch.
IoT delivers results.
95% of adopters have achieved tangible results from their IoT investments. Over half have experienced lower opex costs, while two fifths have seen fixed costs fall. But the benefits go way beyond managing costs. 42% say IoT has delivered organic growth; a third say it has unlocked new revenue streams.
Energy and utilities tends to be the most likely to report benefits. Adopters in this industry are the most likely to have experienced better insights, lower opex costs and organic growth thanks to IoT. Over half (53%) of adopters in automotive say IoT has improved their competitiveness, some way ahead of the other industries. That's representative of how important smart features are becoming to vehicle owners' purchasing decisions.
What benefits is IoT providing to adopters in your industry? Click on the legend items to compare your industry with others.
IoT is being used for many things.
Most companies start with more obvious use cases — such as improving physical security, through IoT-enabled access control or CCTV, for example.
But they soon realise that their IoT sensors can capture other valuable data too. For example, a fleet manager might implement IoT for location tracking and route optimisation, and subsequently use the same sensors to capture data on the condition of their cargo.
Use the chart to see what adopters in your industry are using IoT to monitor.
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