Exton, PA, USA & Nice, France (Business Wire) — ThingWorx™ has announced its latest ThingWorx Ready™ partner, SIGFOX, described as the world’s first cellular network operator dedicated to machine-to-machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT). The partnership has also been discussed at M2M Innovation World Congress in Nice.
SIGFOX’s focus on cost-effective device communications, when combined with ThingWorx’s emphasis on rapid application enablement, are said by the pair to make this a “natural partnership to both improve the time to market and lower the connectivity cost for M2M and IoT solutions.” (See also: ‘And at the end, connecting your product will cost you US$1 per year’ – Is this the role for SIGFOX? and The Wonderful World of M2M)
This partnership includes ThingWorx Ready certification of SIGFOX’s patented Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) wireless communication technology and cellular data transfer network. Both are designed to enable rapid, reliable, low-cost cellular communication for M2M and IoT solutions, including smart metering, e-health, building security and building intelligence, smart city, asset tracking, equipment and infrastructure control, and environmental and agriculture control.
“Adding ecosystem partners like ThingWorx is crucial for optimal and fast delivery of end-to-end solutions,” said Jaap Groot, vice-president of Global Sales for SIGFOX. “This partnership will clearly help to reduce the perceived complexity of the supplier marketplace and long lead time between cost and RoI (return on investment), which will be crucial to achieving optimal market penetration. Our customers already benefit from huge cost savings using our unique Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) out-of-the-box solution, and are now starting to focus on greater agility, efficiency, and customer service, which clearly requires a powerful application platform like ThingWorx.”
“We are pleased to partner with SIGFOX, a true innovator in M2M and IoT device connectivity,” said Ken Forster, managing director of EMEA for ThingWorx. “Combined with the ThingWorx platform, we will dramatically reduce the time, cost, and risk for customers seeking to build and deploy large-scale, low-energy-consuming, end-to-end M2M and IoT solutions. This offering will be a catalyst for rapid growth in the emerging connected world.”
This partnership was highlighted today Wednesday, September 25, at the M2M Innovation World Congress in Nice, France, where ThingWorx and SIGFOX demonstrated the power of the combined offering by building an end-to-end smart meter and intrusion detection application on the SIGFOX network and the ThingWorx application platform, onstage, and in less than 15 minutes.
SIGFOX is said to be the first and only cellular network operator dedicated to low bandwidth communications for connected objects. Thanks to its patented UNB technology, SIGFOX is changing the world of M2M and the Internet of Things, by enabling large-scale connection of objects through a simple, low energy consuming and cost-effective subscription-based connectivity solution. Said a spokesperson, “SIGFOX contributes to wireless communication networks what Twitter contributes to Web communications, i.e., the ability to communicate the essentials at low cost.”
ThingWorx™ provides the first platform designed to efficiently build and run the applications of today’s connected world. ThingWorx’s model-based design and search-based intelligence reduces application development efforts by 10X, minimizing cost, risk and time to market. The ThingWorx platform combines the key functionality of Web 2.0, search, and social collaboration, and applies it to the world of ‘things’, including connected products, machines, sensors, and industrial equipment. Businesses use the ThingWorx platform to rapidly deliver innovative applications and connected solutions across markets ranging from manufacturing, energy, and food, to machine-to-machine remote monitoring and service, as well as in emerging Internet of Things applications, including smart cities, smart grid, agriculture, and transportation.
