M2M services at a “tipping point” for businesses
Half of enterprises worldwide will have adopted M2M technology by 2015, according to Vodafone. Furthermore, although large organisations have so far led in deploying such technology, small organisations are set to surpass them in terms of adoption, the operator said.
At a roundtable event in London this week, the operator revealed the findings of a survey it conducted of 327 IT managers from small and large enterprises worldwide. It found that automotive firms and transport and logistics firms are leading the way in M2M, driven partly by legislation introduced that has made M2M services mandatory in their offerings.
However, it has not been plain sailing for such firms as Vodafone’s research revealed that the majority of automotive firms that have deployed M2M services have not been satisfied by the return on the investment they have seen.
Just over one third of smaller organisations surveyed said they are planning to launch M2M services in the next 12 months, compared with 18 per cent of large organisations. In two years time, Vodafone expects 69 per cent of small organisations to be using M2M services, compared with 58 per cent of large enterprises. According to the operator, the falling cost of M2M hardware is set to lead to a major acceleration in adoption. 12 per cent of small organisations surveyed said that they had already launched M2M services.
“Smaller companies will, for the first time, be able to reap the benefits of M2M,” said Erik Brenneis, director of M2M at Vodafone. He added that adoption in the Asia Pacific region will challenge the current established players in North America and Europe, claiming that M2M is at a tipping point for many industry sectors.
