Boston, Massachusetts, USA — In a new report by Yankee Group entitled ‘M2M Platform Update: 2012 Brings Continued Consolidation’ machine-to-machine (M2M) communications sector analyst, John Keough (pictured) says that the M2M industry has begun 2012 with three announcements aligning pure platform companies with large M2M players, but many still need to clarify their business models.
As Keough says, “Verizon, AT&T and Gemalto have all realised the importance of creating integrated M2M products, and they have seen the value of a horizontal platform that can serve solutions in key vertical markets. However, they still need to clearly define their business models when it comes to offering M2M platform services.”
The Yankee Group report focuses on several aspects of the M2M sector, including:
* Enterprise users value consolidated M2M solutions. In Yankee Group’s most recent IT decision-maker survey, 43% of respondents chose industry leaders based on their ability to provide end-to-end M2M solutions, and 40% also chose leaders based on the ability to provide a flexible M2M platform and adaptable business models.
* Carriers are building tighter relationships with platform providers. Verizon’s full acquisition of nPhase and AT&T’s resale agreement with Axeda empower an easier sale to enterprises than the nebulous, multi-platform approach of yesteryear.
* Gemalto’s acquisition of SensorLogic strengthens a new breed of carrier-agnostic platforms. Gemalto joins Ericsson as a carrier-agnostic M2M solution provider with enough scale to build and support global solutions.
