Enterprises claim Internet of Things readiness despite near capacity networks

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Most enterprises say they are “prepared” for the Internet of Things (IoT), although the majority admit their current network is at full capacity coping with bring your own device programmes, according to research.

Network control company Infoblox surveyed 400 IT professionals in the US and the UK, and found that 90% of respondents were either planning or already implementing solutions to cope with the increased demands on networking caused by IoT projects.

According to analyst Gartner the “installed base of ‘things’”, excluding PCs, tablets and smart phones, will grow to 26 billion units in 2020, which is almost a 30-fold increase from 0.9 billion units in 2009.

The resources to support these deployments already appear to be on hand though, with 78% of Infoblox respondents saying they have “sufficient” budget and 75% “sufficient” staff.

Despite overall trends toward flat or very low-growth IT budgets, 89% believe they are “very likely” or “quite likely” to receive more budget in the next year to respond to IoT demands, and 73% believe the same to be true for staffing.

However, while 86% of IT professionals say they understand what will be required of their networks for IoT deployments, and almost half (46%) expect these deployments to become part of their organisation’s existing IT network, more than half (57%) reported their current network is already at full capacity.

A similar number (54%) see network infrastructure management as a high priority for their organisations.

Cricket Liu, chief infrastructure officer at Infoblox, said: “Network administrators have struggled in recent years to stay on top of the ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) trend, and the IoT will create an increase in end points that is an order of magnitude greater.

“At the same time, many networks teams will have to respond to the IoT without significant increases in budgets or head count. Network automation will become crucial as IT departments confront this massive growth in network complexity.”

Antony Savvas, Computerworld UK

Read More: BYOD Internet of Things networks