The second annual State of Industrial IoT Device Lifecycle Management report provides a detailed look at the market forces that are reshaping how OEMs build, manage, secure, and scale connected IoT products. As device software becomes the primary driver of product value and differentiation, the way organizations manage software over time has moved from an operational concern to a strategic priority.

This year’s report goes beyond high-level observations to quantify how OEMs are adapting to new requirements for security, compliance, resilience, and scalability. It tracks how market trends and business priorities are evolving, measures the progress organizations are making on security and regulatory readiness, and examines how mature their end-to-end device lifecycle management practices really are. The report draws clear correlations among today’s market demands, OEMs’ operational realities, and the regulatory pressures redefining long-term management strategies.

For most OEMs, decisions made now about infrastructure, architecture, and operating models will define their competitive position for the next five to ten years. Decisions on how to deliver secure over-the-air (OTA) updates, manage complexity, maintain auditability, and respond to emerging regulations are no longer optional. They directly affect time-to-market, customer trust, and the ability to scale from hundreds to tens of thousands or millions of devices.

To gain a broad, statistically sound view of the current state of IoT device lifecycle management, Northern.tech conducted a large-scale market survey across multiple digital and in-person channels. The resulting dataset is both wide and deep. It covers over 50 structured questions across technology ecosystems, business priorities, security posture, regulatory compliance, product development practices, and device management infrastructure. Respondents span a range of industries, including industrial, healthcare, energy, transportation, and consumer IoT, providing a cross-sectional view of how different sectors are responding to similar pressures. The survey also captures how organizations are approaching software updates and fleet management, security and remote troubleshooting, and innovation and competitive differentiation.

We benchmarked this new dataset against last year’s inaugural report to reveal what has changed and what remains consistent. This year-over-year comparison highlights where the market is accelerating—for example, in the adoption of software-first product strategies—and where organizations are still lagging, such as in fully operationalizing security-by-design or meeting new regulatory timelines. Together, these insights map the evolving IoT landscape in 2026 and indicate where OEMs can act now to gain an advantage.

In this report, you will find data-backed insights on:

• Key drivers in the market: How customer expectations, new business models, and competitive dynamics are pushing OEMs toward software-defined products and continuous delivery of new features, fixes, and enhancements.

• Managing risk, cybersecurity, and regulations: How organizations are responding to increasing cybersecurity threats and navigating emerging regulations, such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act and sector-specific standards.

• Managing IoT products across their lifecycle: How organizations are approaching increasing product complexity, evolving infrastructure requirements, and establishing device lifecycle management (DLM) practices that improve reliability and efficiency from design to decommissioning.

• The software-first future of next-generation products: Why the most successful OEMs are treating devices as long-lived platforms and how this mindset enables faster innovation, better customer outcomes, and stronger compliance over the full product lifecycle.

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