Inside the Briefcase

Augmented Reality Analytics: Transforming Data Visualization

Augmented Reality Analytics: Transforming Data Visualization

Tweet Augmented reality is transforming how data is visualized...

ITBriefcase.net Membership!

ITBriefcase.net Membership!

Tweet Register as an ITBriefcase.net member to unlock exclusive...

Women in Tech Boston

Women in Tech Boston

Hear from an industry analyst and a Fortinet customer...

IT Briefcase Interview: Simplicity, Security, and Scale – The Future for MSPs

IT Briefcase Interview: Simplicity, Security, and Scale – The Future for MSPs

In this interview, JumpCloud’s Antoine Jebara, co-founder and GM...

Tips And Tricks On Getting The Most Out of VPN Services

Tips And Tricks On Getting The Most Out of VPN Services

In the wake of restrictions in access to certain...

M2M: Why 2016 will be the tipping point

September 22, 2014 No Comments

Featured Article by Andrew Morawski, Head of Machine to Machine in the Americas for Vodafone

With the “Internet of Things” set to grow from 4.4 billion connected devices this year to 10.3 billion by 2018[1], every business and industry will inevitably feel its impact. And while the adoption of machine-to-machine (M2M) strategies is on the rise, many businesses have yet to act – leaving them at a crossroads, in which they must choose to embrace this opportunity, or risk being left behind. So, is 2016 the tipping point for M2M? I say “yes,” and here are the reasons why:

1. Consumer interest in all things “smart” is at a high

Whether it’s the connected car, connected home, or wearable devices, consumers have quickly developed an appetite for this emerging technology supported by M2M. That’s why the consumer electronics sector is at the forefront of the technology’s dramatic shift from the warehouse to the living room, fueled by the wide use of connected devices like smart televisions and game consoles.

Nearly three quarters of consumer electronics companies will have adopted some form of M2M by 2016, whether it is for new products, logistics or production. This was found in the second annual “M2M Adoption Barometer,” a global survey of the M2M market, whose findings for the Americas were unveiled this week. These findings made consumer electronics the leading adopter of M2M this year, and it also has highest adoption of external-facing strategies today, with one in five of the companies surveyed already selling connected devices direct to consumers. The second and third largest adopters were automotive and energy and utilities – again showing the uptick in consumer M2M applications like infotainment systems and smart thermostats. The heat is really on in these three sectors, and the leaders and followers are already emerging.

2. Customers are beginning to expect the benefits of M2M

Organizations have been using M2M for internal applications for years, and now have confidence in its potential to transform external interactions. Truly innovative companies should not only consider how to use M2M from an internal business perspective, but how it can transform customer-facing processes – delivering better, more consistent service and increasing differentiation to create a competitive edge.

Customers have come expect the seamless result of the efficiencies that come from mature M2M applications, such as fleet and inventory management. Additionally, especially in the retail sector, customers are now expecting the emerging unique experiences provided by M2M, such as in-store displays, to make retail interactions special and memorable.

3. Falling costs are fueling adoption

A recent report by Juniper Research predicts that ever-decreasing chipset prices will spur the use of technologies like M2M for the Internet of Things. We saw this in our own research, where 28 percent of respondents said falling costs are a factor in their adoption. This was particularly important in some of the sectors that are growing most quickly. For example, 45 percent of respondents in consumer electronics said that declining costs had prompted their M2M investment — up from 27 percent last year. As costs continue to fall, adoption in industries like automotive, energy and utilities and consumer electronics will surely explode, and those who were ahead of the game will have a definite competitive advantage.

4. It is delivering Big Data that can alter the course of business

What companies do with their M2M data is becoming vital to the business as a whole. Just as companies are embracing Big Data for sales and customer strategies, they are now realizing that M2M data has a transformative potential for other business processes, providing insight and connections they couldn’t see before. For example, combining M2M data with weather data can reveal trends and help to better forecast sales, set pricing and target promotions. It’s clear that businesses are taking notice – ABI Research forecasts that the M2M analytics industry will grow a whopping 53.1 percent over the next five years. In the future, we expect leaders in the M2M space to develop planned Big Data approaches to M2M deployment.

To be a leader and not a follower in this space, companies must take a good hard look at these factors and at their own readiness for M2M.  Those that will see the greatest returns from their M2M projects are willing to adapt their processes and their culture, leverage the data it gathers across the business, and drive it hard from the very beginning. For these organizations, M2M will allow them to leverage Big Data, mobility and cloud to usher in a new age of agility, insight, customer relations and competitive edge.

So with the tipping point fast approaching, it’s time to decide – is your business a leader or a follower?

Andrew Morawski is Head of Machine to Machine in the Americas for Vodafone. His key area of focus for the region is the application of M2M technologies which enable creative new business models to drive growth in both established and emerging markets.



[1] According to Machina Research

Leave a Reply

(required)

(required)


ADVERTISEMENT

Gartner

WomeninTech