While the Internet of Things (IoT) market is still being built and defined, a survey from Strategy Analytics shows that certain companies are beginning to show signs of leadership. According to their findings, Microsoft, mobile operators, Cisco, HPE, IBM, and Oracle are the most popular choices for enterprises deploying IoT.

Strategy Analytics conducted 1,200 online interviews, split evenly between the U.S., U.K., France, and Germany, with respondents from key vertical markets.

The research firm evaluated nine vertical industries to capture IoT deployment and adoption trends within each vertical.

Matt Wilkins, co-author of the report and senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, said that enterprises selected IoT vendors based on price, the robustness of technology, and the vendor’s knowledge. “The same was also true when looking across the nine vertical markets we surveyed.” Wilkins noted in an email.

Microsoft’s focus on customer ease-of-use and security may be what pushed the company above other vendors in the U.S. Microsoft IoT “is deeply ingrained inside the business organization, for example from the desktop to the back-end infrastructure [servers] and so on,” Wilkins said. “It is clearly doing a good job of communicating its IoT strategy and portfolio to clients and prospects.”

Microsoft recently debuted Microsoft IoT Central, a new managed software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for customers with little cloud experience. IoT Central was built on the Azure cloud and uses the existing Azure IoT Suite, easing the transition for companies to deploy.

Outside the U.S., mobile operators ranked higher than Microsoft and other vendors. Mobile operators are known for typically lower cost models, low data rates, the ability to operate in remote locations, and mass-market wide application of IoT. The survey verifies that enterprises value operators' wireless connectivity and expertise in the market, according to Wilkins.

[caption id="attachment_53524" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Top 7 Vendors. Courtesy of Strategy Analytics/PRNewsfoto[/caption]

While Microsoft and mobile operators came out consistently on top, the survey also captured vendors, Google, Telit, Samsung, Aeris, Kore, PTC, Amazon, Blackberry, and Ericsson in other areas of the survey.

For Strategy Analytics executive director, Andrew Brown, this data shows there is still plenty of room for mobility in the marketplace. “The fact that no single vendor dominates enterprise consideration for IoT projects is a clear illustration of the complexity in deploying IoT,” said Brown in a release. “With mobile operators and Microsoft forming the top tier of consideration, these vendors are proving they have captured enterprise mindshare for IoT deployments."