IoT adoption surged in 2023, with nearly two thirds of respondents to the latest Eclipse survey deploying IoT, up from 53% in 2022.

The fifth annual survey report reveals trends, difficulties and strategies, including an increased enterprise reliance on open-source technologies to accelerate IoT and edge computing adoption.

The Eclipse Foundation’s 2023 IoT & Edge Commercial Adoption Survey Report analyses responses of more than 1067 professionals in the IoT and edge computing domain conducted online from April to July last year.

“Consistent with our previous surveys, the continuous growth and adoption of IoT and edge computing remains evident,” said Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation. “The data reflect a notable increase in the number of managed devices and larger investments, indicative of a scale-up in deployments.”

Survey participants represent a broad range of industries and job functions. Six of the key takeaways from the survey data are:

• IoT adoption surged in 2023: 64% of respondents are now deploying IoT, up from 53% in 2022. An additional 23% plan to deploy within 12 to 24 months. Less than 5% have no IoT deployment plan.
• Edge computing adoption holds steady, acceleration anticipated: Adoption of edge computing remains at 33% (same as 2022), with an additional 30% indicating plans to deploy within the next 24 months. 27% are still evaluating edge platforms, while only 10% have no plans to deploy edge products.
• Rising investments signal scale-up in production deployments: 17% of respondents spent between $1m and $10m in 2023 (more than double that of 2022), growing to 23% in 2024. Five per cent anticipate spending over $10m. This trend indicates a transition from proof-of-concept to RoI-focused deployments.
• Growing number of IoT and edge assets per deployment: Deployments of fewer than 1000 managed assets will remain steady or decline, while larger deployments are on the rise, with 10% of deployments consisting of 50,000 or more devices. Regarding asset implementation, the mix between greenfield and brownfield is almost equal.
• IoT is increasingly strategic with the C-suite driving investment decisions: 49% of organisations reveal that the C-suite predominantly drives decisions. This marks a significant increase from the 38% reported in 2022, indicating a growing influence of top-level executives in shaping investment choices within the realm of IoT and edge technologies.
• 75% of organisations embrace open source in IoT and edge: Three-quarters of organisations are actively incorporating open source into their deployment plans. The widespread use of IoT and edge based on open-source technologies highlights how open source has become key in shaping today’s technology landscape.

The report also delves into industry-specific insights on IoT and edge adoption, highlights the primary concerns and challenges encountered by commercial adopters, and provides actionable recommendations for navigating the evolving landscape.

To find out more, download the report at outreach.eclipse.foundation/iot-edge-commercial-adoption-2023.