IT professionals are not sufficiently prepared for the Internet of Things, despite thinking it will have a big impact in the workplace.
The research, carried out by Spiceworks, has discovered that although 71 per cent of IT professionals think the Internet of Things will affect their business, 59 per cent have not taken action to prepare for the impact it could have in their workplace.
Of those preparing, 68 per cent are investing in hardware infrastructure, 63 per cent are improving security and 55 per cent are addressing potential bandwidth shortages.
Although the majority of the 400 people questioned said the Internet of Things is already very visible in the workplace, with 68 per cent supporting two or more devices per employee, more than half are not taking notice of the changes it could bring.
When asked how they would deal with the issues of bring your own device (BYOD), more than a quarter of those didn't know how they would manage the devices, while 43 per cent said they would assign them to a separate network. Only 23 per cent said they would add them to the current corporate infrastructure.
"The data technology trends we've seen emerge over the past few years, like BYOD, coupled with the IoT will have a dramatic impact on how IT professionals do their jobs," said Kathryn Pribish, Voice of IT program manager at Spiceworks.
"IT professionals understand the inevitability of the IoT (Internet of Things) but the reality is, though the impact will be gradual, resource-strained IT departments and others who haven't jumped on the IoT bandwagon will be playing catch-up if they don't adequately prepare."
The respondents work in a cross-section of industries including manufacturing, healthcare, education, government, finance and IT service providers, with 62 per cent of respondents from North America and 38 per cent from EMEA.
