A new survey by network control company Infoblox concludes that while businesses are eager for the opportunities presented by the “Internet of Things,” networks don’t yet have sufficient capacity for the expected growth in IoT applications.
“As it stands today, there may not be enough network capacity to handle the demand that will accompany an anticipated explosion in the number of connected devices,” Infoblox said.
Infoblox commissioned the survey of several hundred IT professionals in the U.S. and U.K. for gauging IoT readiness and interest.
Infoblox said that 90% of respondents were already planning or implementing solutions for increased network demand from IoT initiatives. The company also noted that Gartner has predicted that excluding PCs, tablets and smartphones, the installed base of connected things will reach 26 billion units in 2020 compared to 900 million in 2009.
Most respondents said they already had sufficient staff and budget for IoT deployments, and nearly 90% said they were likely to receive more funding to support the demands of IoT, while 73% said they believed the same would happen for staffing. But, the networks were the weak point: 46% said that their current network was already at full capacity. And respondents reported conflicting experiences on managing IoT intiatives: a majority (56%) said that it was difficult for IT managers to control where IoT projects happen across their businesses, but 74% said their organization “has an integrated IoT deployment plan and IoT deployments can’t be authorized without involvement from IT.”
“These results, while seemingly in conflict, align with what Infoblox customers are telling us anecdotally,” said Cricket Liu, chief infrastructure officer at Infoblox. “IT departments have a seat at the table when business units — such as operations, manufacturing, marketing, sales and customer service — want to move forward with IoT deployments. But these business units often get deep into the buying process before calling IT, sometimes forcing IT to scramble to provide support for devices that lack the full set of connectivity and security protocols found in established categories such as PCs, tablets and smart phones.”
Liu went on to add that it is “encouraging that the majority of IT professionals recognize the demands the Internet of Things will make on their networks.” Liu noted that “bring-your-own-device” deployments have strained IT departments as it is, and “the IoT will create an increase in end points that is an order of magnitude greater.
“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,” Liu said.
