Author: Kitty Weldon

As Principal Analyst for Enterprise Mobility and IoT at GlobalData, Kathryn is responsible for analyzing events, companies, products and technologies within the wireless enterprise services, IoT, and private wireless solutions space.

M2M Evolution Conference: Platform Battles and Optimistic Use Cases

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
Kathryn Weldon
Kathryn Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • M2M Evolution (in Las Vegas from August 27th to 29th) featured a ‘Battle of the Platforms,’ with the following winners: Etherios (winning for two categories – best horizontal and vertical platform), Amdocs (best provisioning platform), ThingWorx (best application development platform) and Xively (best non-platform implementation).
  • The ‘battle’ seemed to favor small companies that offer cloud-enabled development platforms to simplify M2M application development and management in a fragmented delivery ecosystem.  The implication is that this need for simplicity is being met with innovative solutions that empower businesses to bring together the pieces they need to create M2M solutions across device types, networks and disparate vertical industries.

The M2M Evolution Conference had an overarching message relating to the evolution of the industry; we are apparently evolving from a customized, expensive and difficult-to-implement one-off application environment to a simpler, gentler ecosystem where cloud-based platforms provide connectivity to and from any device; configure, manage, upgrade and troubleshoot devices even in very large deployments; and enlighten businesses through data visualization.  The winners of the ‘Battle of the Platforms’ have many of these themes in common when they describe their products. Continue reading “M2M Evolution Conference: Platform Battles and Optimistic Use Cases” →

Data Analysis Platforms for M2M: The Next Wave

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
Kathryn Weldon
Kathryn Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • The first generation of M2M platforms (service delivery platforms, or SDPs) provided connectivity-oriented management and control, such as service/SIM activation, real-time diagnostics and troubleshooting, and rate plan generation, with the best-known platforms in the market coming from third parties such as Jasper Wireless and Ericsson and operators such as Orange and Vodafone.
  • The second generation of M2M platforms added cloud-based application development tools as well as key functions such as remote device management, firmware/software upgrades and device-level remote diagnostics. Vendors such as Axeda and Sierra Wireless are well-known in this segment, while SAP is adding this kind of functionality on top of the Ericsson SDP. What’s next?

During the last five years, a variety of solutions have been deployed to set up wired or wireless connectivity between machines, sensors and other devices and the servers and systems that use the data collected from these machines to enhance processes and productivity. Enterprises can also get help via application platforms that aid in developing simple or complex apps to extract data, and manage/configure/update their end devices. What has come next is a focus on data analytics as a significantly important component of M2M deployments (as well as a value-added service that can be monetized by systems integrators and operators). Continue reading “Data Analysis Platforms for M2M: The Next Wave” →

M2M Managed Services May Represent Future Opportunity

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
Kathryn Weldon
Kathryn Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • Mobile operators are all going up the M2M value chain beyond connectivity services, adding end-to-end solution bundles for particular applications that may include connectivity, hardware, software and basic services such as provisioning, activation, SIM management, alerting, device management and troubleshooting, along with Tier 1 or Tier 2 customer support.
  • However, actual managed services, where the operator hosts and manages an application and runs a service on behalf of the customer (which provides value such as remote monitoring of assets that belong to the customer’s customer), are less common but seem a likely opportunity for the future, especially to cater to SMBs that have fewer resources.

A recent service launch by Vodafone, called Vodafone Remote Monitoring and Control Service (RMCS), is indicative of where Vodafone and many competitors are focused in adding value to their solutions.  RMCS provides a bundle including hardware, wireless network connectivity and application software that can help any company with remote assets to collect data and gain a real-time view of asset status and performance; this kind of capability is applicable to many different verticals and use cases.  When I first read the Vodafone press release, however, I saw the word ‘service’ and initially misconstrued this to mean that the operator would run this as a managed service for its customers.  It turns out that, at least for most large companies, not only are enterprises the expert on their equipment and how it is supposed to function, but they also want to remain the face to their customers and run these kinds of services themselves.  Some enterprises will offer this capability as a free service, as remote monitoring can save manufacturers on their own costs for onsite repairs; while others may turn it into a revenue-generating opportunity, charging the customer for the remote status monitoring and analysis.  In any of these models, the operator is still generating incremental recurring revenue, but this would not include a management fee for running the service itself. Continue reading “M2M Managed Services May Represent Future Opportunity” →

Live from Orange Business Services’ Analyst Event

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Communicate
Kathryn Weldon
Kathryn Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • Orange Business Services’ annual analyst event, held in Paris July 9-10, offered high-level positioning and insights into key services, strategies and plans.
  • Orange Business Services detailed successes and challenges, and provided information in areas including managed mobility, global partnerships and M2M.

Day 1: New Orange Business Services CEO Thierry Bonhomme provided perspective on areas of progress over the past year, as well as the challenges faced by Orange and other European service providers in a difficult economic climate. Bonhomme identified strategic areas of focus for the company such as cloud services, its Workspace as a Service initiatives, and M2M. He also identified several new partnerships (with Tangoe for managed mobility, Streetline for Smart City initiatives, and Akamai for content data management). This was followed by a discussion on current and future network services, and customized one-on-one discussions (in this case focused on enterprise mobility and M2M). Continue reading “Live from Orange Business Services’ Analyst Event” →

Do End Users and Service Providers Agree on the Trajectory of M2M?

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
Kathryn Weldon
Kathryn Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • Every year at its Connexion conference in Boston, Axeda, a provider of cloud-based M2M application solutions, presents an ever-growing scale (now reaching nine levels) that measures the sophistication of M2M solutions, ranging from 1) unconnected to 2) connected, 3) serviceable, 4) intelligent, 5) optimized, 6) differentiated, 7) eco-friendly, 8) collaborative/socialized/multivendor, and 9) cross-industry solutions.  Each year, Axeda adds new levels.
  • Axeda also showcased several end users’ actual M2M deployments.  Where were they on this scale and can we deduce anything about the current trajectory of M2M from these real-world case studies?

End users at the Axeda Connexion conference included Getinge Group, which provides hospital systems, extended care and infection control.  In 2003, the company envisioned a system to provide a service for remote monitoring of its equipment, but it ran into technology and regulatory challenges along the way and had difficulty building a model that made the ROI self-evident.  Eventually, the company connected the end customer (hospital) though a web portal and smartphone app, offering a value prop of unprecedented knowledge via online troubleshooting, access to historical data and statistics for production planning, and real-time equipment status.  It was in production in 2011; as of 2012, it still found take-up slow among its customers, especially in low-cost labor countries that did not ‘get’ the value prop.  In the future, it plans to add data mining.  Overall, it took Getinge eight years to get to the ‘connected,’ ‘serviceable’ and ‘intelligent’ stages – essentially reaching level 4 (out of 9) on the Axeda model. Continue reading “Do End Users and Service Providers Agree on the Trajectory of M2M?” →

New Managed Mobility Launches Shed Light on BYOD Evolution

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
Kathryn Weldon
Kathryn Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • New managed mobility services announcements were made this week and last by U.S. and European service providers, T-Mobile USA and BT
  • T-Mobile USA is adding a second MDM platform – SOTI Mobile Control – (in addition to its recent launch of MobileIron) for mobile deployments

While T-Mobile’s new service shows a progression from its former stance of simply reselling third-party vendor solutions without much “skin in the game”, the carrier is now offering a fully managed service, more in line with what AT&T and Verizon have been offering for TEM/logistics, MDM, MAM and increasingly, mobile security, for some time. BT, on the other hand, is viewing the in-office wireless LAN as an area just as rife with complications from employees bringing in their own tablets and smartphones as it is for companies with cellular-based mobile workers. Most mobile operators aren’t addressing the WLAN side of the equation as they make their money on the cellular side from devices and service plans; on the other hand, BT does not own its own mobile assets but is more of a pure-play provider of managed mobility services and consulting. Continue reading “New Managed Mobility Launches Shed Light on BYOD Evolution” →

CTIA 2013’s Emerging Technology Awards for Enterprise Solutions

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
Kathryn Weldon
Kathryn Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • CTIA 2013, held last week in Las Vegas, was explicitly not about the enterprise, since that is still the domain of the fall CTIA show, MobileCon, until 2014.
  • However, in addition to a few enterprise announcements (see CTIA 2013: M2M With a Splash of Enterprise Mobility, May 24, 2013), there were also two sets of emerging technology awards given to enterprise solutions; one set was for Enterprise Cloud/Mobility and the other for Enterprise Security, Fraud and Privacy. Is this yet another way to derive a few meaningful enterprise insights from CTIA?

The following vendors and products won awards at CTIA under the Emerging Technology program:

Emerging Tech Award Winners – Enterprise/Cloud Mobility

  • LogMeIn, Cubby
  • Canvas, MyCanvas
  • Averail, Averail Access

Cubby is a secure, cloud-based document management/collaboration system for sharing/editing documents within workgroups, and features both client side and data side encryption, remote mobile lockout if desired or necessary, and multiple synchronization options. It’s positioned as similar to Box or DropBox, but with more security and unlimited synchronization. My Canvas allows any smartphone to be used in place of paper-based forms used for data entry, and allows businesses to create custom mobile apps that generate reports on this data. The data can then be shared with their customers via an Internet portal. Averail Access is a mobile content solution for the enterprise that provides employees an intuitive mobile app to access, manage and share business information without sacrificing enterprise security and control. It links directly to Sharepoint and Office 365 with support for Office docs, pdfs, images, video and audio files. Continue reading “CTIA 2013’s Emerging Technology Awards for Enterprise Solutions” →

The Intersection of Cloud and M2M Will Help Create the “Internet of Things”

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Internet of Things, Mobilize
Kathryn Weldon
Kathryn Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • “Cloud” means all things to all people, but for M2M, and especially for its larger cousin, the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud services are taking on an increasingly important role.
  • Clouds will be necessary to store and analyze machine data, to allow connected devices to talk to each other and share data, and to be easily updated and managed. This larger view of the IoT, rather than the stodgier and more limited M2M market, is key to the vision leading to the 20- 50 billion (some say trillions) of connected devices in many IoT forecasts.

A lot of M2M vendors and enterprises are starting to forego the use of the word M2M and are replacing it with IoT, implying a much bigger set of “things” that will all be connected to the Internet (and to each other) using every available fixed and wireless access technology. To get to this larger market, cloud services are critical, because a secure, reliable infrastructure is necessary to manage the connection and interconnection of all of these things, as well as their ability to be updated and managed and their ability to communicate with each other and with humans who need to interact with them or want to use their data. Continue reading “The Intersection of Cloud and M2M Will Help Create the “Internet of Things”” →

M2M Ecosystem Growing as Everyone Wants a Piece of the Action

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
Kathryn Weldon
Kathryn Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • M2M World Congress, held in London on April 25th and 26th, brought together a diverse ecosystem of companies that offer M2M solutions, including prominent players such as operators, integrators and chipset/module vendors, as well as a few surprises.
  • Despite the relatively small annual revenues associated with M2M today, few companies want to be left out of what is predicted to be a trillion dollar market, with 20-50 billion connections and a wide variety of related services, equipment and software opportunities by 2020.

M2M World Congress was noticeably lacking in end users (with the exception of the UK National Grid), but most of the usual suspects participated, giving fairly high-level presentations on the market and on their particular solutions, along with the usual caveats concerning the obstacles that are still in the way of massive market growth.  There were a number of operator presentations and panels (with EE, Deutsche Telekom, Turkcell, Swisscom, Telefonica, Etisalat, Orange and satellite provider Inmarsat in attendance), as well as individual presentations by: Continue reading “M2M Ecosystem Growing as Everyone Wants a Piece of the Action” →

Are M2M Communications Secure?

by Kitty Weldon, posted in Mobilize
Kathryn Weldon
Kathryn Weldon

Summary Bullets:

  • If M2M grows the way the ecosystem hopes it will, there will be millions and even billions of end points sending continuous (as well as more sporadic) data across wired and wireless networks, including proprietary and mission-critical pieces of information about customers and businesses
  • What are operators, systems integrators, and security software and services specialists doing about this? Why doesn’t security seem to be discussed as openly as other M2M requirements?

When holding briefings with operators involved in M2M, security and privacy issues come up occasionally. Generally mobile operators offer APNs, which means that an M2M device is connected to the customer’s private IP network or cloud rather than directly to the carrier’s wireless network or the public internet. This provides a level of built-in network security but doesn’t deal with breaches that come through a corrupted end-point.  Nor does it always prevent unwarranted or malicious access to data behind the firewall. Adding encryption to sensors or other low-end M2M endpoints let alone putting it in a chipset or module may be overly expensive, as is adding end to end encryption to the entire data flow in between the “machine” and wherever the collected data is being sent. SIM cards within embedded modules generally have some level of built-in authentication, but how about application security, device OS security, or the kind of proactive security practiced routinely for remote laptops and mobile devices such as frequently updated anti-virus/spam/denial of service software, intelligent threat detection, and all-purpose managed security services?  Continue reading “Are M2M Communications Secure?” →