3 challenges in IoT adoption that businesses in Southeast Asia face

Photo credit: Gerd Altmann.

It’s 2017 and IoT continues to be a buzz word, appearing more frequently in almost every news articles regarding technology trends, digital transformation, and “the next industrial revolution.” But despite the seemingly robust industry boom, the rate of IoT adoption in Southeast Asia seems to be at a more conservative level.

Organizations are cautious about IoT for various reasons. It is then important for solution providers to understand the gaps in order to address the challenges businesses face and to increase IoT’s reach.

1. Security

Arguably the second most popular buzzword, security issues have been among the top concerns of any digital project out there. 2016 was a “year of hack” around the world—from the alleged hacking of the US elections, to the US$81 million stolen from Bangladesh Bank, to hacking of airports and banks in Vietnam.

All these controversies raised security concerns in businesses who store sensitive information in the cloud, where IoT devices without basic security functions can be hacked in minutes. This is why ensuring cybersecurity is crucial for businesses when deciding whether to migrate data to the cloud and rely on technologies for operations and storage of sensitive information.

2. Co$t

Cost is another big concern for enterprise IoT adoption, especially for SMEs in Southeast Asia. For example, in emerging economies like Myanmar, where despite the high potential for enterprise ICT/IoT adoption, the high cost of digital products still poses a challenge to local companies, prompting them to either seek foreign investments, collaborate, or find local alternatives that are more affordable. This in turn prods local system integrators and distributors to be active in helping local markets grow.

This also brings up another important issue of having a strategic plan on digitization and using IoT to cut upfront costs without compromising the benefits of technologies.

3. Sustainable investments and developments

As IoT continues to be a buzz word, especially with big names like Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, and Google, enterprises should avoid jumping on the bandwagon without understanding the actual benefits that IoT can bring to the table.

A Bain & Company survey found that 59 percent of global companies “believe they lack the capabilities to generate meaningful business insights from data.” Another survey had 85 percent of respondents saying that “they will require substantial investments to update their existing data platform,” which can be costly and time-consuming.

Conclusion

It is very important for solution providers to understand the challenges that businesses are facing with IoT adoption. This way, they can offer not only products but also advice on developing strategies and plans on successfully using IoT.

Businesses in Southeast Asia comprise of many young, robust, and innovative entrepreneurs who are hoping to use technologies to differentiate and expand their companies and to produce with high efficiency and productivity. With all the pain points and technological challenges addressed, solution providers and businesses could understand each other and help the Southeast Asian IoT market reach new heights.

This is an opinion piece.

This article was first published on LinkedIn.