IoT and Digital Transformation: A Tale of Four Industries

There is a familiar refrain among CEOs today, perhaps best captured by the CEO of a major global financial institution who said, "We are no longer a bank, but a technology company in the financial services industry."

IDC has accumulated dozens of similar quotes from executives across all industry segments.

Digital transformation is at the heart of business strategies.

Digital transformation begins with the executive mandate, but it is essentially a commitment by organizations to innovate on the experience they offer their customers.

There is a strong sense of urgency among executives as the threat of digitally enabled competitors remains high on the list of concerns. In fact, our research shows that 33% of industry leaders will be disrupted in this way by 2018.

The starting point is innovating the experience, which adds pressure to fundamentally change the operating models that companies use. Organizations are transitioning from mass-market operating models to consumer-centric models.

This operating model transformation is essential to delivering on the promise represented by the new experiences being created.

The technology underpinning the Internet of Things (IoT) - acquiring, analyzing, and activating data - is an essential element of generating innovative experiences and transforming operating models.

According to IDC's 2015 Global IoT Decision Maker Survey, 58% of organizations worldwide see the Internet of Things as strategic to their business.

Another 24% of organizations see IoT as transformational to their business.