Industrial IoT 2025: From Connectivity to Business Value

How are European industrial OEMs turning connected machines into trusted data, better services and measurable business value?

Industrial IoT has entered a new phase.

For many equipment manufacturers, connecting machines and collecting operational data are no longer the primary challenges. The more difficult question is what happens next:

How can existing IoT capabilities be transformed into better decisions, scalable digital services and measurable business results?

The Industrial IoT 2025: From Connectivity to Business Value study examines the current IoT maturity of European industrial OEMs and identifies the areas where expectations and existing capabilities remain furthest apart.

Download the full study to benchmark your organization and identify the next priorities for your IoT development.

Get the Industrial IoT 2025: From Connectivity to Business Value Study

Industrial IoT has moved beyond connectivity

Industrial companies have invested significantly in sensors, gateways, cloud platforms and connected-machine infrastructure. These foundations are now widely established—but connectivity alone does not create value.

The study indicates that the next stage of industrial digitalization is increasingly shaped by questions such as:

• Can operational data be trusted without extensive manual cleaning?
• Can machine insights trigger actions in maintenance, service and other business systems?
• Do manufacturers know which digital features customers actually use and value?
• Can analytics help identify failures and their root causes without extensive manual investigation?
• Are connected products managed securely throughout their entire lifecycle?
• Can IoT-enabled services create recurring revenue or support outcome-based business models?

These questions separate organizations that simply collect machine data from those that systematically turn it into business value.

What is holding industrial OEMs back?

The research highlights a recurring pattern across companies and industries: technical infrastructure has often developed faster than the organizational and commercial capabilities around it.

Three themes stand out.

1. Trustworthy data as the foundation

Connected machines can generate enormous amounts of data, but volume does not guarantee value. Inconsistent information, missing values, undocumented changes and unclear ownership can prevent organizations from using data confidently in analytics and automated decision-making.

When data quality cannot be measured or managed systematically, highly skilled experts may spend more time preparing data than creating valuable insights.

2. The gap between machine data and business value

Machine data frequently remains isolated in dashboards instead of being connected to maintenance, field service, ERP, CRM and other operational systems.

Without these connections, insights do not automatically lead to action. Organizations may also struggle to understand which digital services customers genuinely value, making it more difficult to prioritize development and build sustainable revenue models.

3. Growing lifecycle and security requirements

Connected products must be managed securely from development and deployment through maintenance and eventual decommissioning.

The EU Cyber Resilience Act is increasing the urgency around vulnerability management, software inventories, secure updates and auditable lifecycle processes. For many OEMs, preparing for these requirements will involve both technical development and changes in operating practices.

What separates the IoT leaders?

The most digitally mature organizations are not defined by technology alone.

They combine connected-product capabilities with:

• Clear ownership of data and its quality
• Systematic lifecycle and governance practices
• Integration between machine data and operational workflows
• Evidence-based development of customer-facing digital services
• A clear model for creating and capturing business value
• Security embedded throughout product and software development

The findings suggest that progress does not always require rebuilding the entire technology platform. Significant value can also come from professionalizing how existing capabilities, data and systems are used

Benchmark your organization across six dimensions

What you will learn from the full study

Download the study to explore:

• The current state of IoT maturity among European industrial OEMs
• The largest gaps between business importance and current satisfaction
• How maturity differs by industry, company size and connected fleet size
• Why data quality has become a critical constraint for analytics and AI
• What prevents manufacturers from monetizing connected services
• Where analytics still depends heavily on manual investigation
• How OEMs are preparing for lifecycle security and the Cyber Resilience Act
• The capabilities that distinguish IoT leaders from the rest of the market
• Practical development priorities for moving from connectivity to business value

The full report includes maturity comparisons, survey findings, industry observations and a detailed analysis of the development areas identified by respondents.

About the study

The research combines:

• 15 in-depth interviews with industry professionals
• 27 survey responses from the European industrial OEM ecosystem
• Five industrial sectors, including forestry and agriculture, mining and minerals, construction and earthmoving equipment, lifting and material handling, and process and marine industries

The participating organizations range from specialized manufacturers to global enterprises, with connected fleets extending from hundreds of machines to more than half a million units.

The research was initiated by Remion and conducted as part of Joona Viitasalo’s Master’s thesis at LUT University.

The thesis work was funded by the Technology Industries of Finland Centennial Foundation, with Rehtitec supporting the practical implementation of the interviews and survey.

Is your organization ready to move from connectivity to business value?

Discover where industrial OEMs are succeeding, where the largest capability gaps remain and what development priorities are shaping the next phase of Industrial IoT.

Get The Industrial IoT 2025: From Connectivity to Business Value Study Report

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