Scientific African (Sep 2023)
A review & analysis of current IoT maturity & readiness models and novel proposal
Abstract
Internet of Things (IoT) environments are characterized by a high level of diversity and heterogeneity as there are numerous standards and approaches. This adds complexity and raises questions concerning enterprises’ strategies, organizational structures, and technological capabilities. As a result, a tool is required to assist enterprises in their transition to IoT technologies and practices, as well as to guide them in improving their capabilities. Several Maturity Models (MM) have been developed for this purpose, to assist enterprises in understanding their current position and identifying the need for improvements based on guidelines and indicators. However, there are several gaps in current models due to the lack of IoT-specific assessment approaches and models. Therefore, existing models must be upgraded to take into consideration major gaps and recommendations. Our main goal, in this research, is to provide a structured methodology and a holistic model fitting to the IoT context. The main contributions of this paper are (i) firstly, it summarizes the current state of the art of IoT MM proposed by various initiatives in several countries while highlighting their origin, scope, objectives, and assessment approaches, and (ii) secondly it outlines the research gaps and limits of existing maturity models and (iii) thirdly it proposes a new IoT maturity assessment framework to better help companies to recognize their current situation regarding IoT transformation as well as undertaking the right improvement actions plans in a structured manner. The proposed framework includes a methodology and a maturity model with 5 levels, 5 dimensions, 13 sub-dimensions, and 62 assessment criteria. Afterward, a practical tool has been developed to provide a user-friendly self-assessment for companies.
