Today, there is an increasing realization amongst IoT adopters and vendors that the various constituent elements of an IoT solution must be delivered as a managed service or series of managed services. In June 2023, Transforma Insights published a white paper in collaboration with Telit Cinterion entitled, “The Internet of Things can only be delivered as a managed service,” which looked at why enterprises should be more selective about demanding a more personalized service and picking their IoT connectivity partners. Let’s take a look at some of the key highlights in the white paper.
8 Key Highlights
#: Managed Service is the Best Way
In February 2023, Transforma Insights published its annual Communications Service Provider IoT Peer Benchmarking report, looking at the capabilities and strategies of CSPs in delivering IoT connectivity and other associated services. One notable trend, which has also been manifested in other areas of IoT, has been the greater requirement to provide more customer support, whether it be a full systems integration project, enriched post-sales support, or something in between.It has become well-recognized that enterprises need some handholding to deploy their IoT projects. This is even more pronounced for mass market deployments in which adopters have little to no direct expertise in IoT. Simply throwing an increasingly complex array of hardware, middleware platforms, connectivity options, and cloud architectures at an enterprise and expecting them to piece together their own IoT solution is, at best, fanciful. IoT is a non-core area for almost every adopter, so some element of handholding is critical.
#2: Infinitely Scalable IoT Is Gone
One major implication of the customization requirement is that there is a diminishing opportunity for any company to exist as an infinitely scalable IoT platform. Such elements are increasingly commoditized and demanding of a service layer on top of them. Middleware companies are differentiating on vertical sector expertise, and recent years have seen some major technology vendors mothball or close their IoT platform play, including Google IoT Core and IBM Watson IoT.IoT is a service rather than a product business; such is the necessity for customization to meet clients’ requirements. This means fewer unicorn platform companies and more service-oriented companies resolving real-world client requirements.
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#2: Infinitely Scalable IoT Is Gone
One major implication of the customization requirement is that there is a diminishing opportunity for any company to exist as an infinitely scalable IoT platform. Such elements are increasingly commoditized and demanding of a service layer on top of them. Middleware companies are differentiating on vertical sector expertise, and recent years have seen some major technology vendors mothball or close their IoT platform play, including Google IoT Core and IBM Watson IoT.IoT is a service rather than a product business; such is the necessity for customization to meet clients’ requirements. This means fewer unicorn platform companies and more service-oriented companies resolving real-world client requirements.