Category: Internet of Things

WiFi 6 and Its Benefits to Enterprises

by Alfie Amir, posted in Communicate, Internet of Things, Mobilize, Network
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • WiFi 6 is entering the market and will offer higher capacity, better security, and more efficient resource/device management.
  • As a successor to the current WiFi standard, it will be widely adopted in the mass market. There are also several benefits to enterprises.

What’s New

WiFi 6, which is based on the IEEE802.11ax standard, is a logical progression of the current WiFi technology (IEEE802.11ac). It comes with various new features and updated technologies to offer higher network capacity and security as well as better device management. WiFi 6 has a theoretical peak speed of 9.6 Gbps, almost triple that of its predecessor (WiFi 5). This is achieved through updated wireless technologies such as orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) and multi-user, multiple-input, multiple-output (MU-MIMO) antenna systems. However, the gain in capacity is not just about offering a higher speed, but also about addressing the larger number of WiFi devices served by an access point (AP). Continue reading “WiFi 6 and Its Benefits to Enterprises” →

Singtel Collaborates with Microsoft to Enhance Its IoT Portfolio

by Alfie Amir, posted in Cloud Enable, Communicate, Internet of Things, Mobilize, Network
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • Singtel is strengthening its IoT portfolio through a partnership with Microsoft by integrating a range of Azure capabilities into its network.
  • Its service coverage is still limited in Singapore, China and Australia (Optus) compared to the global IoT networks offered by competitors.

Singtel announced its partnership with Microsoft in February 2019 to launch an AI-powered IoT network over Microsoft Azure. This is achieved through integration of Singtel’s IoT network into Microsoft Azure cloud capabilities, including IoT Hub, IoT Edge, and other machine learning and cognitive services. Singtel has a comprehensive IoT portfolio with software-defined network capabilities, a range of technologies including LPWAN standards, a private IoT network for added security (‘IoTConnect+’), competitive pricing (as low as SGD1 per month for 10 MB on NB-IoT) and various solutions across industry verticals. The additional capability gained from the partnership with Microsoft complements the carrier’s IoT portfolio. The AI capabilities enable the carrier to deliver more efficient services, especially in the orchestration and automation of applications and workloads across IoT stacks (e.g., devices, network and clouds), thus accelerating enterprises’ business outcomes and the ROI. The cloud services offer scalable deployments, addressing the high upfront investments required by enterprises to implement IoT use cases. It also enables Singtel to retain its IoT leadership in Singapore and address the increasing demand in the key Asian hub. GlobalData research shows that 62% of 1,664 global enterprises interviewed (including 65% of 57 in Singapore) are making major or large investments in IoT in the next three years. The access to Microsoft’s vast range of development tools, developers and other packaged solutions enables the carrier to further strengthen its own IoT platform capabilities, while IoT Hub offers an additional platform option to its customers in addressing diverse market demands. Continue reading “Singtel Collaborates with Microsoft to Enhance Its IoT Portfolio” →

Will Maxis’ New Enterprise Strategy Work?

by Alfie Amir, posted in Communicate, Internet of Things, IT Leader, Mobilize, Network
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • Maxis redefined its enterprise strategy to grow its business in the managed services market.
  • The provider needs to tackle the real needs of enterprises instead of just replicating best practices.

The practice of consumer telcos entering the enterprise managed service market is not uncommon, especially for telcos playing in a mature market. Telcos are looking to expand their revenue streams, as business from the traditional services (e.g., data, broadband, voice) is no longer growing. Maxis, a leading consumer mobile provider in Malaysia, started this journey as early as 2010, although the consumer mobile market was still growing at that time and there was no critical need for the service provider to look for new business areas. The move was mainly driven by technology leadership, following ‘best practice’ from other global leaders at that time. Today, while the provider is still playing in the enterprise managed service market, the driver has shifted from technology leadership/innovation to a real need to grow revenue in the segment and hence the overall business. Without much success in the past (with only 1.4% growth in 2017 and 3.1% decline in 2018), Maxis recently shared its new strategy to grow its enterprise service (managed services, cloud and IoT) by threefold in five years, focusing on leveraging connectivity assets and replicating industry best practice. While the strategy looks promising, will it work for Maxis in the Malaysia market? Continue reading “Will Maxis’ New Enterprise Strategy Work?” →

IoT Projects Increasingly Target Revenue Growth

by John Marcus, posted in Internet of Things
J. Marcus

Summary Bullets:

• Most IoT projects to date have focused on increasing efficiency or reducing costs

• In 2018, IoT deployments are increasingly intended to generate new revenues as well

IoT offers operators and enterprises a slew of opportunities, with the rise of pervasive connectivity opening up new ways to both collect and generate data in pursuit of stronger businesses and a better experience for customers. The GlobalData IoT Innovations Tracker is following new deployments across sectors worldwide, capturing the key use cases and technology choices made by the deploying organizations. But it also considers the key questions for each deployment: Why are we doing this? What do we hope to gain from this IoT project?
Continue reading “IoT Projects Increasingly Target Revenue Growth” →

The Road Ahead for Australian Start-up MOVUS for AI and Predictive Maintenance

by siowmeng, posted in Internet of Things
S. Soh

Summary Bullets:

• Reactive, Preventive, and Predictive Maintenance regimes will continue to be major use cases for AI-assisted industrial IoT deployments

• As a start-up, MOVUS has a strong first mover local advantage, channels, an end-to-end platform and OT approach which are unique.

Artificial intelligence (AI) – the science of making computers mimic humans using logic, decision trees, deep learning, and machine learning – is fast approaching the market opportunity around preventive and predictive maintenance. According to a recent GlobalData survey, the top two business challenges in Australia are in improving operational efficiency and reducing costs. Many businesses, such as manufacturers, producers of natural resources, through to the agriculture and health sectors, need ongoing reliability of machines and their constituent parts to keep the lights on in the business. Unplanned outages, for example, can cost an oil and gas company, on average $50 million dollars annually. In the case of a windfarm, in the event of one single fail, an entire turbine needs to come down, a technical crew with a crane needs to be on site costing $100,000 or more for each time a part fails. There are many cases of overheated servers in data centers that caused major outages. The myriad of examples create compelling business cases. Continue reading “The Road Ahead for Australian Start-up MOVUS for AI and Predictive Maintenance” →

Huawei Eco-Connect Europe 2018: IoT Strategy Depends on Ecosystem Investment

by John Marcus, posted in Internet of Things
J. Marcus

Summary Bullets:

  • Huawei made clear its strategy is now based on ‘platform + ecosystem.’ This is the case across the business, but nowhere more acutely than in IoT.
  • While investing in the ecosystem is a requirement, its diverse nature makes for a highly fragmented IoT market.

Huawei held its flagship European event in Rome this week, combining a showcase for customers and partners with a series of broad brush announcements around investing in its global digital platforms and ecosystem. The key takeaway from the waterfall of positioning messages is that Huawei not only recognizes its need to partner with other players across its business; it has also made its ecosystem central to its strategy and is therefore investing heavily in strengthening relationships with suppliers, developers, partners, and customers. In the Internet of Things (IoT), it already has a head start, but a number of new developments will support the ongoing commitment to the ecosystem: Continue reading “Huawei Eco-Connect Europe 2018: IoT Strategy Depends on Ecosystem Investment” →

Vodafone Sets Sights on Vertical Services in IoT, but Which Ones Will Take Priority?

by John Marcus, posted in Internet of Things
J. Marcus

Summary Bullets:

  • Vodafone stated at its analyst conference this month that its IoT strategy will focus on vertical services.
  • It has picked five verticals so far, but some reflect future potential rather than previous successes.

At its annual analyst conference, Vodafone’s enterprise business presented updates across its portfolio and associated strategy, and when it came to the Internet of Things (IoT), one thing was clear: a new determination to focus on a set of priority verticals to deliver sector-specific IoT services. The idea is that, if it is to access the biggest market opportunities, it must become more of a technology solution provider in order to maximize growth potential as a trusted, ‘go-to’ supplier in digital industries. Continue reading “Vodafone Sets Sights on Vertical Services in IoT, but Which Ones Will Take Priority?” →

Anti-Bot as Additional Protection Layer in IoT

by Alfie Amir, posted in Internet of Things, Secure
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • Security remains a key inhibitor in IoT, driven by the convergence of IT and OT.
  • IoT providers should consider bundling anti-bot offerings into their IoT solution as an additional protection layer.

Security and privacy have been the key topics in IoT. They are also the main inhibitors slowing down IoT adoptions by enterprises. As seen in the figure below, GlobalData IoT research conducted in 2017 with 281 Asian enterprises showed that security and privacy were the second and fourth biggest challenges for them with their IoT deployments. Continue reading “Anti-Bot as Additional Protection Layer in IoT” →

Amdocs Microservices360 Gives Service Providers the Flexibility to Expand Their Enterprise ICT Portfolios Modularly

by Alfie Amir, posted in Cloud Enable, Internet of Things
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • Amdocs Microservices360 gives carriers the flexibility to expand their enterprise portfolio modularly and offer integration between services.
  • he platform has various microservices and supports the latest technologies, such as open source, DevOps, pipeline automation and cloud deployment.

Amdocs shared Microservices360 and other solutions at its recent Asia-Pacific event (for more about the event, please see: “Amdocs APAC Summit 2018: Enabling Carriers to Drive Enterprise Digital Transformation,” July 23, 2018). Microservices360 supports open source technologies, the DevOps lifecycle and Red Hat OpenShift for CI/CD pipeline automation and flexible deployment (on-premises or cloud). The microservices include catalogue, order, payment and partner management. While the focus has been on carriers’ consumer segments, the platform can also enable carriers to expand and enhance their enterprise portfolios. Continue reading “Amdocs Microservices360 Gives Service Providers the Flexibility to Expand Their Enterprise ICT Portfolios Modularly” →

Inmarsat: Filling IoT Coverage Gaps for ‘Always On’ Applications

by Alfie Amir, posted in Internet of Things
A. Amir

Summary Bullets:

  • Satellite providers have key roles to drive IoT market especially in filling the coverage gaps in remote areas
  • Satellites are mainly used for backhaul network, not so practical as the last mile access due to its technical limitations such as latency and physical dimensions

While some satellite providers are entering the IoT space and compete against the mobile operators (for more, please see Cable and Satellite Companies Pushing into IoT: Can They Win Against Mobile Operators?, July 6, 2018) other satellite providers such as Inmarsat are partnering with carriers to fill the IoT coverage gaps in areas beyond cellular network can reach offshore oilrigs, airplanes in transit, remote environmental monitoring, and vehicle and people tracking. Based on GlobalData’s IoT Deployment Database, there are more than 100 satellite-based IoT deployments tracked, with an installed base that almost doubled in the last two years. This also reflects the IoT market trend shown by GlobalData IoT Project Insight 2017 (n=924) where 17% of IoT deployments today are on fleet management (the third highest after equipment management and building management). In some cases, the satellite network is also used in cellular areas, but offered as network diversity to offer higher availability for mission critical applications such as payment terminals in petrol stations. Continue reading “Inmarsat: Filling IoT Coverage Gaps for ‘Always On’ Applications” →