Vodafone is making it easier for businesses to adopt IoT technology to track, monitor and manage assets, as part of the offering that the latest addition to the group, South Africa-based IoT.nxt, brings to the company’s portfolio.

The complete offering delivers devices and sensors, a single data management platform, and professional services to businesses of any size. Key markets for IoT include utilities, logistics, public transport, healthcare, manufacturing and building management, as Vodafone releases a report on the benefits of the digital building approach

The services should remove barriers to IoT adoption for UK businesses. By partnering with IoT.nxt, Vodafone will offer users every part of the IoT with a single data management platform and the capability to integrate old and new devices in one system.

As part of the range, Vodafone will provide IoT sensors and devices, create a data management platform, and offer on-going professional services. This should ensure IoT is accessible to all businesses, including those that do not have specialist capabilities in-house.

Vodafone also released a report on the benefits of digital buildings, which found that investment in IoT in public sector buildings could reduce carbon emissions, reduce energy usage and save taxpayers up to £380m annually. The report, which calls on the UK government to explore digital buildings technology, estimates new technology could reduce carbon emissions by up to 1.2 million tonnes of CO₂ a year and reduce overall energy usage in buildings by 15%.

As part of Vodafone’s recent IoT Spotlight research, 87% of UK early adopters said they had already seen a return-on-investment for IoT, while 76% suggested they were able to do things they couldn’t do before. IoT is helping businesses adapt to the digital economy, but complexity has been a major barrier to adoption.

“We’re making it easy for any business to adopt IoT,” said Anne Sheehan, business director for Vodafone in the UK. “We’re taking away complexity, and making it simple to deploy, simple to manage and simple to see the return on investment. With our colleagues at IoT.nxt, we can be unique in the UK market. We’ll grow our leadership position from here, and deliver customers a digital capability that will prove invaluable in meeting the pressures of business today.”

In 2019, Vodacom – part of the Vodafone group – acquired a 51% share in South Africa-based IoT.nxt. The addition of IoT.nxt to the group should help Vodafone grow its leadership in the IoT space by opening up markets through the ease of deployment, the simplicity and flexibility of operation, and the capability to customise to any application. IoT.nxt lets businesses consolidate multiple processes on one simple platform, and integrate old and new devices with a single system.

“It’s great to be part of the Vodafone group,” said Nico Steyn, CEO of IoT.nxt. “After a successful collaboration with Vodacom in South Africa, we are thrilled to power the new era of Vodafone UK’s IoT strategy. IoT is perceived by many businesses to be complex and bespoke, but it doesn’t have to be. We hope to change that perception with a platform which can be adapted to any business and type of connection, and any use case.”