Sixty-two per cent of enterprises are already implementing edge computing in their IoT deployments, according to a survey of 570 executives conducted by analyst firm Omdia across organisations in 10 countries. The same research found 42% of respondents now treat edge as an investment priority, and 87% said their edge IoT deployments met or exceeded expectations.

Omdia principal analyst for IoT John Canali said the survey marks a tipping point: businesses are moving from experimentation to architectures that deliver measurable benefits at scale.

What is driving the shift?

The push toward edge processing is fuelled largely by interest in running AI and machine-learning workloads on IoT systems, Canali explained. Enterprises are "considering how to adapt their architectures" to enable processing at the edge.

The motivations are concrete rather than speculative. Respondents cited three main objectives:

• Improved security, by keeping data closer to where it originates
• Lower "transmission costs", reducing the volume of data sent to centralised clouds
• Reduced latency for time-sensitive applications

How far have deployments actually gone?

Beyond the pilot stage, in most cases. Omdia reported that 78% of surveyed companies said their edge IoT deployments had moved past pilot programmes. Within that figure, 36% are "at moderator scale and 17%" extensive, according to Canali.

Most deployments — 53% — now run at "moderate-to-extensive scale across business units or enterprise-wide". The overwhelmingly positive satisfaction result, with 87% of respondents saying outcomes met or exceeded expectations, suggests the technology is delivering on its promises rather than simply riding a wave of vendor enthusiasm.

That distinction matters. Edge computing has been marketed heavily by equipment vendors and operators as the next phase of enterprise connectivity, but Omdia's data reflects self-reported enterprise experience rather than supplier projections.

What is holding deployments back?

The barriers are technical rather than financial, the research indicates. Security tops the list of obstacles to scaling edge IoT throughout an enterprise, followed by the complexity of systems integration and concerns over data privacy and governance.

Integration with legacy systems posed another persistent challenge, Omdia found. Companies also flagged a lack of in-house IoT skills and the absence of a clear business case, while some reported internal resistance or insufficient backing from senior personnel.

Budget constraints ranked comparatively low. Only 21% of respondents cited lack of budget as a barrier, leading Omdia to conclude that technical hurdles — not monetary ones — are the primary brake on edge IoT expansion.

For vendors and operators selling managed edge services, that finding carries a clear commercial signal: customers need help with security architecture, integration expertise and governance frameworks more than they need cheaper pricing.

What happens next?

With nearly two-thirds of enterprises already implementing edge moves and satisfaction levels running high, Omdia's data indicates the remaining growth in edge IoT depends less on proving value and more on solving integration and security challenges — a gap service providers and systems integrators will be competing to fill as AI-driven IoT workloads continue to push processing away from the data centre.