• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, January 31, 2016

Businesses expect The Internet of Things will improve customer experiences but that’s far from where their current IoT initiatives are today.

And when it comes to how they plan to address IoT needs, most companies are looking to do it with internal resources, although fewer than four in 10 rate their level of preparedness in various phases as excellent or very good, based on a new study.

The report regarding the state of Internet of Things initiatives is based on a survey of 200 business leaders conducted by TEKsystems.

The good news is that companies see customers as the main beneficiaries of their IoT efforts, according to the survey. Here’s how business leaders expect IoT initiatives to impact their businesses in the long term, as in a five-year planning horizon:

• 64% -- Create better user and customer experiences
• 56% -- Spark innovation
• 52% -- Create new and more efficient working practices and business processes
• 50% -- Create new revenue streams
• 36% -- Increase ROI
• 35% -- Create substantial cost savings and operational efficiencies

The not-so-good news is that many companies rate their organization as not great in their ability to executive using in-house resources.

For example, just over a third (35%) of business leaders say their business is excellent or very good at strategy definition while 27% rate it as poor or fair.

And while 29% rated their business as excellent or very good at determining the most effective and efficient way to create a solution, 32% say it’s poor or fair.

This matters a lot, since the majority (55%) of businesses see the long-term impact of IoT initiatives to have a transformational or significant impact on their business in the long term. Only 2% of businesses see IoT as having no impact.

As in other studies, the biggest risk or challenge in realizing IoT potential is the increased exposure of data and information security.

Despite this, many companies are moving forward with IoT initiatives, with 39% either implementing or piloting projects and another 10% planning them.

But as in any technology, there are laggards, with 42% of companies in the consideration phase and not yet moving forward.

At the least, The Internet of Things is now on every company’s radar.