Building the Foundation for Enterprise IoT Success

Mikaël Schachne, VP Mobility & IoT Business at BICS, recently moderated a webinar with industry peers to examine why enterprise IoT adoption remains slower than forecasted.

While analysts projected over 20 billion connected devices by 2020, the The Economist Intelligence Unit IoT Business Index 2017 shows that businesses are still catching up.

Our discussion highlighted a key consensus: the sheer scale of connectivity underestimates the operational complexity involved in integrating IoT into existing enterprise models.

IoT is gaining momentum and delivering tangible benefits, yet many organizations lack a clear understanding of what the technology truly requires.

Successful deployment demands more than simply attaching sensors; it requires redefining business processes, selecting the right use cases, and demonstrating measurable value to end‑users. Connectivity alone does not guarantee success—its impact must translate into improved outcomes for customers.

Education is therefore essential. End‑users and enterprises alike often struggle to grasp the full scope of IoT, from device integration to data security. The end‑to‑end solutions typically involve multiple stakeholders, making the journey appear daunting and opaque.

Approaching a tipping point

IoT is far from a plug‑and‑play technology. It weaves together diverse systems across sectors, each with its own dynamics, industry‑specific challenges, and interoperability requirements. As trusted advisors, we help customers navigate this complexity, filter choices, and align solutions with core business objectives.

Organizations often identify the right use cases for connected devices but then face hurdles in achieving global coverage. Scaling a solution that worked with one mobile operator in a single region can become prohibitive when replicated across numerous operators worldwide.

Attempting to interconnect disparate networks introduces security risks. Each network’s unique security posture necessitates a secure transport layer—typically managed by a third party—to reliably funnel data back to enterprise applications.

High costs associated with connectivity, sensors, storage, and processing can deter adoption. However, as these costs steadily decline, new connectivity opportunities will emerge, accelerating the IoT evolution.

While early forecasts may have been optimistic, the falling cost curve is propelling us toward a tipping point where the IoT ecosystem will transform at a pace far exceeding prior expectations.

In time, we will look back at the modestly disappointing years before this breakthrough and recognize that we were simply laying the groundwork for transformative change.

The author of this blog is Mikaël Schachne, VP Mobility & IoT Business, BICS