ARM study: The Internet of Things is real. It's here. Act now.
SAN FRANCISCO---Compared to the infancy years for cloud computing alone, the Internet of Things concept is gaining both attraction and acceptance far quicker, based on a new report published by ARM.
Introduced amid an invite-only discussion on Monday morning, the processor maker has backed a new report that declares, quite simply, "The Internet of Things is an idea whose time has finally come."
In fact, the topic appears to be more relevant than just debate fodder as researchers found that more than two-thirds of businesses are either in the process of incorporating Internet of Things practices if they haven't already implemented them.
"Nobody knows what the winning business models are going to be. Even seasoned management consultants will struggle to provide definitive answers. It is a matter of experimenting with different models to see which ones work."
Based on the report, integrating the Internet of Things appears to mean implementing a combination of cloud, mobile and social services in order to both handle as well as make use of the abundant amounts of data being generated by these sources.
Taking big data into account as an actual pressing issue rather than just a buzzphrase is essential given how many forecasts are predicting there will be anywhere between 20 billion and 50 billion connected devices worldwide by 2013.
Thus, it could be a welcome relief that researchers found approximately 96 percent of businesses expect to be using the IoT in some respect within the next three years.
However, it's obvious that it's going to take some serious commitment to get there -- some of which doesn't seem to be in place yet given that only 30 percent of organizations surveyed have committed "double-digit" investment to these infrastructures.
Naturally, there has to be room for understanding here between budget constraints and simply just being uncertain about making these investments given how quickly these technologies -- especially mobile -- evolve from year to year.
Here's some advice from the report:
Yet some important unknowns remain. Nobody knows what the winning business models are going to be. Even seasoned management consultants will struggle to provide definitive answers. It is a matter of experimenting with different models to see which ones work. The main message for latecomers and doubters is to consider the opportunities offered by the IoT—if nothing else for improving internal operations: the vast majority of survey respondents agree that companies that are slow to integrate the IoT risk falling behind the competition.
For reference, The Economist's Intelligence Unit, commissioned by ARM, surveyed 779 senior business leaders, nearly half of whom are C-level executives or board members, in June, covering a total of 19 industries across North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region.
Images via ARM/The Economist Intelligence Unit