The Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem is continuously changing and developing and the future looks bright. Bain estimates that by 2020, annual revenues could exceed $450 billion for IoT vendors selling hardware, software and comprehensive solutions. IoT is making lives easier and helping businesses run more efficiently and effectively. There are 7 companies right now that are standing out from the rest and utilizing IoT to the best of their ability.
No two companies that offer IoT solutions are the same and no IoT platform is the same, but these 7 companies are making a big difference in IoT:
IBM Watson
IBM Watson has a strong presence in the IoT world. The IBM Watson IoT Platform is a fully managed, cloud-hosted service that makes it simple to derive value from IoT devices. Using their recipes you can get the platform connected and start sending data securely to the cloud using the open, lightweight MQTT messaging protocol. From there, you can setup and manage your devices using your online dashboard or their secure APIs, so that your apps can access live and historical data fast. It gives you the ability to completely manage your IoT landscape and make better, even real-time, business decisions. Take advantage of secure, globally distributed data, analytics and cloud facilities, edge capabilities and a rich ecosystem of suppliers and solution providers. They offer solutions for asset management, automotive, electronics, facilities management, insurance, manufacturing, product development and retail.
Learn more about IBM Watson
SAP Leonardo
SAP is another strong performer in IoT. They created SAP Leonardo as their Digital Innovation System which integrates IoT, AI, Machine Learning, Big Data, Analytics and more to help businesses connect with people, products, assets, customers and
more to create a more intelligent enterprise. Companies are challenged to re-envision existing business models and embrace a different way of engaging their customers, empower employees, optimize their operations and transform their products and services to maximize the economic and social benefits of digitalization. Digitalization is not just technology, it is also a strategy. Digital is changing business, and companies need to ensure that line of business management sectors are involved in the development. With SAP Leonardo, this also involves what they call “Design Thinking”, a collaborative action oriented methodology process whereby software designers work with users to help solve complex workflow challenges and deliver a simplified process flow, along with a consumer grade look and feel UI. The results are single-process Apps that execute a single purpose, very well, and integrated to SAP’s digital core via their Cloud Platform [PaaS with micro-services, open API’s, flexible runtimes, integration].
Vertical data integration is fundamental for big data, high-velocity, real-time, iterative analytics. Through integration with SAP’s S/4HANA digital core, 3rd party data sets let users bring in more data sets to add to existing files and derive more actionable intelligence and better insight. This insight allows users to execute more business transactions at the end points and literally tie and measure the business outcome to a real-time execution. This then becomes not just a battle of the machines, where the smartest algorithm wins approach, but a redesign of knowledge work. The flow of information is being increased so that decisions can be made faster at all levels, from top to bottom as a system of engagement.
Learn more about SAP Leonardo
Cisco
The Cisco IoT System helps to enable massive revenue streams, efficiency in automation, and overall business growth with IoT products and solutions. With Cisco IoT Systems, you can connect, manage, and control previously unconnected devices. Their broad portfolio of IoT infrastructure technologies and products give you deeper insights with analytics on IoT data. The system enables you to better secure your physical and digital assets and data, and innovate by creating and deploying IoT applications from fog to cloud. The six pillars of their IoT system include: Network Connectivity, IOx and Fog Applications, Security, Data Analytics, Management and Automation, and Application Enablement.
Learn more about Cisco IoT
Amazon Web Services
Unsurprisingly, Amazon Web Services makes the cut as they have two specific IoT services, AWS Greengrass and AWS IoT. Each helps you collect and send data to the cloud, making it easy to analyze that information. They also provide the ability to manage your connected devices, so you can focus on developing applications that fit your specific needs.
AWS Greengrass: Greengrass is software that lets you run local compute, messaging & data caching for connected devices in a secure way. With AWS Greengrass, connected devices can run AWS Lambda functions, keep device data in sync, and communicate with other devices securely - even when not connected to the Internet.
AWS IoT Platform: AWS IoT is a managed cloud platform that lets connected devices easily and securely interact with cloud applications and other devices. AWS IoT can support billions of devices and trillions of messages, and can process and route those messages to AWS endpoints and to other devices reliably and securely.
Learn more about Amazon Web Services
GE Digital
Skyhook’s office neighbor GE is also a leader in the Internet of Things. After seeing a need for Industrial IoT (IIoT), GE created Predix, an application development platform specifically designed to help companies at every stage of digital transformation benefit from the Industrial Internet. Core to industrial productivity is Asset Performance Management (APM). Powered by Predix, their APM portfolio allows companies to do more than simply monitor their physical assets at the convenience of their mobile devices; it creates a smart, predictive environment that can reduce downtime and fuel future innovation and drive productivity. IDC recognized GE Digital as a leader in IoT solutions in its latest report, “IDC MarketScape: IoT Platform (Software Vendors) 2017 Vendor Assessment.” William Ruh, CEO of GE Digital said the “recognition by the IDC MarketScape as a leading IoT platform and software provider, coupled with our global customer base and deep partner ecosystem, is a testament to our proven capabilities to help businesses reach their true digital potential. And we’re just getting started.”
Learn more about GE Digital
Microsoft
Microsoft is a top performer when it comes to IoT. Microsoft IoT helps drive digital transformation across businesses with end-to-end solutions that can be tailored for any need such as making informed decisions, reducing costs, optimizing operations and creating new revenue streams. Microsoft Azure IoT suite has several solutions to help do this including: remote monitoring, asset management and predictive maintenance. The suite allows you to connect a broad range of device types and operating systems. This allows you to create new insights and leverage them to transform business processes and automate operations. Microsoft recently launched Azure IoT Edge, a service that delivers cloud capabilities to the edge. IoT Edge provides easy orchestration between code and services, so they flow securely between cloud and edge to distribute intelligence across IoT devices.
Learn more about Microsoft IoT
PTC
PTC acquired three leading IoT Technologies: ThingWorx, Axeda and Coldlight to ramp up their IoT efforts to deliver what they call the “world’s first complete and purpose built IoT Platform.” Their IoT solution enables you to securely connect smart things, manage and analyze data, create applications, and ultimately transform your business. Each technology serves its own purpose, but some highlights are predictive maintenance, M2M, analyze data and detect patterns. Over 1,000 companies use the ThingWorx platform to support their IoT strategies and to create new business value in a smart, connected world. Additionally, hundreds of companies have partnered with PTC to bring IoT to reality across multiple markets. Forrester Research named PTC a leader in a Forrester Wave™ report that evaluates IoT software platforms.
Learn more about PTC IoT Solutions
These 7 companies are demonstrating leadership in IoT and offering unparalleled solutions. They are definitely worth watching in the near future to see what they’ll be up to next.
