Only eight per cent of IT decision makers believe IoT has nothing to offer their company

Fifteen per cent said that the Internet of Things was something they're actively exploring already

Only eight per cent of IT decision makers believe that the Internet of Things (IoT) will be of no consequence to their organisations, according to Computing's latest research programme into IoT.

More than half (54 per cent) of the respondents agreed with the statement that IoT is set to go mainstream, but that their organisation has no plans for it just yet. Meanwhile, 23 per cent said that it is something that is happening or will happen, and that it is preparing for that. Fifteen per cent of IT decision makers said that IoT was something with which they are actively involved.

Regardless of the extent of respondents' involvement with IoT, 14 per cent said that it would have a major impact on their organisation's infrastructure and resources. Half of the IT decision makers said that it would have "some impact", and just under one-third (31 per cent) said that it would have "minimal impact". Only five per cent of respondents said that it would have no impact or change.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the larger the organisation, the more likely it was to have an IoT strategy and to have already undertaken some activity; organisations employing more than 1,000 staff were more likely to be either actively involved with IoT already or be preparing for it. By contrast, businesses employing fewer than 200 staff were far more likely to see IoT as of no consequence to them.

Telecoms/technology, business and professional services, and manufacturing companies were more likely to be preparing for IoT than their counterparts in the financial services industry, which is particularly interesting as Computing's research found that finance is often a leader when it comes to other technology initiatives such big data and mobility.

Insurers are already using machine learning to process claims faster and spot anomalous patterns indicative of fraud, so the reluctance found in our survey to embrace IoT in a wider sense may be an anomaly. Just recently MetLife's vice president of enterprise analytics, Malene Haxholdt, told Computing that the global insurer is taking IoT and machine learning very seriously despite still being in the early stages of implementing and exploiting the technology.

"IoT is definitely being considered as something you have to take seriously in this business. It's not an ‘oh it's going to go away' type of conversation - that data is not going away, so you have to take it seriously and figure out if there is a use for it," she explained at the recent SAS Global Forum.

About the research

The research included the views of IT decision makers representing organisations ranging in size from a minimum of 100 employees to enterprises comprising many thousands. Numerous industries were represented, including banking and finance, technology, healthcare, education and media.

After individual in-depth interviews with IT practitioners to ensure the questions being asked were relevant, as well as two focus group sessions, Computing commissioned a nationwide, online quantitative study that was completed by more than 350 IT decision makers. A final round of interviews was conducted with other IT decision makers to provide further feedback and validation.

For the full results of Computing 's research and to hear how major organisations are already exploiting the Internet of Things, come along to Computing's Internet of Things Business Summit on Thursday 12 May in London. It's free for qualifying end users - but places are running out fast.