IoT ‘in jeopardy’ as only 1% firms have global connectivity

New research reveals only 1% of businesses are achieving highly resilient connectivity (better than 98%), as commodity IoT providers fail to deliver.

A new State of IoT Adoption report launched today by leading global IoT connectivity solutions provider, Eseye, reveals the shocking statistic that companies are settling for sub-standard IoT connectivity performance.

In fact, only 16% of respondents are achieving more than 95% connectivity. In line with this, nearly every respondent highlighted that cost was an important factor when choosing their connectivity provider. However, 71% admitted that cheap commodity SIM and data connectivity providers are not a good long-term investment.

The importance that value plays in IoT connectivity decisions

Eseye focuses on supporting mission critical IoT use cases by aiming to deliver resilient global connectivity to devices where customers experience near 100% uptime for every device anywhere in the world.

Its report highlights how nearly all survey respondents (89%) agreed that an end-to-end services programme that gives them access to IoT services under one roof would be beneficial to their business.

Mission-critical IoT devices require near-100% connectivity and the fact that companies are prepared to accept poor performance relative to the connectivity levels they could achieve is described by Eseye as ‘highly concerning’. 

Also emphasised by Eseye is that respondents appeared satisfied with their service despite experiencing connectivity levels that are significantly below best practice. The company states that businesses are currently lacking the necessary technical knowledge to make the most of their IoT investment and are compromising their chances of success by settling for second-rate connectivity. 

IoT devices anticipated to increase: Improving connectivity

The majority of respondents (81%) are expecting the number of IoT devices in the field to increase over the next 18 months, with nearly three quarters (72%) planning to increase IoT budgets in the next two years. 

Eseye also highlights a consensus, with 81% of respondents agreeing that getting IoT device design right is key to an effective IoT project. Despite this, operational failures are often down to the device, with over two thirds (67%) of respondents saying that most of their IoT project failures are down to an issue at the device level. Almost three-quarters (72%) also say that embedded firmware developers are hard to find and in short supply.

Nick Earle, CEO of Eseye, says: “[Businesses] need to demand more from IoT service providers, and a service model that emphasises quality at an affordable price point. They should be seeking end-to-end expertise incorporating device design, connectivity, and lasting value. At this crucial point in the sector’s development, second-best – in any aspect – is not good enough. 

He continues: “Taking the time to assess a product’s maturity, and then investing in expertise to improve quality from first principles, is the necessary first step in today’s IoT projects.

“A change of mindset is needed, where buyers understand the capabilities they are working with and invest in the right connectivity technology that will drive change for their unique business case.  Increasing budgets allows IoT teams to invest in solving the problem by building connectivity-by-design into their products, rather than simply increasing the scale of inadequate devices. 

“This survey demonstrates that there is a lot of demand and support for IoT, but we need to capitalise on this by educating buyers and solving business problems rather than just throwing money at an inefficient model.”

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