South African companies are optimistic about the possible business outcomes from the Internet of things (IOT).
This is according to local findings from Vodafone's fifth annual IOT Barometer Report.
"Vodafone's latest research findings prove IOT is becoming an essential component of digital strategy in South Africa, with respondents confident IOT will improve their business outcomes in future," saysDeon Liebenberg, managing executive for IOT at Vodacom.
This as 86% of South African respondents said they are optimistic about the possible business outcomes of connecting almost everything. Meanwhile, 88% of SA respondents said their digital strategy is generating measurable business value.
"The adoption of connected 'things' is gathering speed. Vodacom expects to see the South African IOT market mature significantly over the next year, particularly through the commercialisation of NarrowBand IOT networks, which will make the benefits of IOT more visible for both businesses and consumers," Liebenberg adds. Vodafone owns a 64.5% stake in Vodacom.
Around 57% of South Africans responded they will be using IOT in the next 12 to 24 months to manage risk and 77% said their core business strategy has changed as a result of adopting new technologies.
Vodacom last month announced it had connected more than three million 'things' in SA and averages 55 000 new IOT connections per month. Liebenberg said at the time that it took Vodacom eight years to get to two million connections but only one year to add the next one million.
The IOT Barometer Report is a global survey of business sentiment regarding investment and innovation in the Internet of things. The IOT barometer research surveyed over 1 200 respondents in 13 countries: the US, Brazil, Ireland, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, South Africa, China, India, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.
South Africa represented approximately 10% of the participants, including retail, manufacturing, energy and utilities, healthcare, transport and logistics, automotive, consumer electronics and the public sector. Responses were received from decision-makers across a range of organisations, from SMEs to larger multinationals.
Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) polled higher than the global average of 71% when it came to the topic of the future of IOT, with 74% of EMEA respondents stating that by 2022, we will no longer talk about IOT ? it will just be business outcomes.
Global barometer
"When we first started publishing the barometer in 2013, IOT was still very much in its infancy ? we were still calling it M2M, and adoption was just 12%. Since then, the proportion of companies using it has more than doubled ? reaching 29% in 2017," says Erik Brenneis, director for Vodafone IOT and CEO of Vodafone Global Enterprise.
In terms of key global trends, the report found the percentage of companies with more than 50 000 connected devices active has doubled in the last 12 months. Globally, 84% of IOT adopters said their use of IOT has grown in the last year and 51% of IOT adopters said the technology is increasing revenues or opening up new revenue streams.
Vodafone found that adopters are using IOT to cut costs, reduce risk and increase revenue, but the main focus is on increasing efficiency (55% of adopters).
Brenneis says the majority of IOT adopters think IOT will have an enormous or sizeable impact on the whole economy in the next five years and 66% of all companies agree digital transformation is impossible without IOT.
"New low-power connectivity options, like NarrowBand IOT, will be key to making that possible. 28% of those that plan to adopt IOT in the future are already investigating low-power wide area network technologies, with their promise of increased network coverage and greater cost-efficiency.
"That's exciting as we believe it will drive the next wave of IOT adoption. But realising the potential will require more skills than most companies currently have. That's why we've seen adopters increasing their use of partners to deliver and/or manage their IOT solutions," he adds.
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