Report: IoT and blockchain integration is booming among American companies

According to Gartner, 75% of companies that have already started using the IoT want to connect it to blockchain technology.

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Companies that want to connect their Internet of Things (IoT) tools to blockchain will be happy to hear this from Gartner: you are not the only one.

The two groups have already been joined by 75% of the organizations, or they plan to do so in the next year. That number goes up to 89% in just two years, which means that almost all companies that have put a lot of money into IoT technology see the value in blockchain technology.

94% of businesses with mature IoT implementations (defined by Gartner as KPIs and expertise centers in their IoT systems) plan to connect their IoTs with blockchain. This makes the case for IoT and blockchain working together even stronger.

“How IoT and blockchain networks work together is a good spot for digital change and new ideas,” said Avivah Litan, distinguished vice president at Gartner. “The research shows that things are moving a lot faster than thought.”

Why organizations connect IoT and blockchain

The link between IoT and blockchain has been in the news for a while now. Analysts and big companies like Samsung have all said that combining the two is the best way to move forward for both.

The results that Gartner found in this report show that this integration does happen, and it happens quickly. The study also looks at why IoT and blockchain work together, and the answers are not a surprise.

“Increased security and trust in shared transactions and multi-party data” was the major reason people who answered the survey said that blockchain and IoT should work together.

When IoT sensors and devices are linked to a blockchain, the study said, “an always-present audit record of important IoT data and related business events that is shared by multiple participants and that can be independently verified by each party.”

Second, and this is linked to security, IoT devices and sensors that are connected to blockchain can save businesses money. Blockchains make it possible for independent apps to work across platforms, support smart contracts, and offer more automation, which can cut down on the need for workers and speed up processes from the factory to the store.

People have also said that combining IoT and blockchain will lead to more sales, new business possibilities, and a better experience for all participants. But both were a long way behind when it came to protection and cost-effectiveness.

How companies can get the most out of IoT and blockchain integration

If a company wants to combine IoT and blockchain, Gartner gives them three suggestions:

• At this point, combining IoT and blockchain is best for “improving trust and security in multi-party shared transactions and automating processes among network members.”

• Putting IoT and blockchain together is still a new technology. If you are thinking about it for your business, make sure that the fact that it is still young and things change quickly will not be a problem.
• Long-lasting IoT devices and data are not the best use for IoT and blockchain together right now because it is hard to roll out large-scale changes. If that is what you need, your company has probably thought about always-on centralized databases like Datomic or Amazon QLDB.