CRN has taken a closer look at vendors and divided them into for groups to get a better understanding of sales force trends and examples of use cases of the Internet of Things.
The market research firm IDC has recently evaluated that the rapidly-developing Internet of Things space will reach explosive $1.7 trillion market in 2020. For comparison, the market was estimated at $655.8 billion in 2014.
Although the Internet of Things is much talked about nowadays, the whole range of possibilities may be absolutely clear for solution providers only. Still, many people are in two minds about whether the sphere is worth looking closer or not. The question of vendor choice is perhaps one of the most important.
And this is where CRN’s Internet of Things 50 list can help.
CRN analyzed the vendors that are approaching the Internet of Things market in the best strategic ways, offering secure, efficient and reliable technologies, and looping in partners as part of their go-to-market sales strategies. Many vendors offer specific certifications, training tools and other resources to help others appreciate the benefits of the Internet of Things and win in it. These vendors allow solution providers to get a clear understanding of sales force trends and examples of use cases.
This year, CRN has united its IoT 50 list into four large groups:
- Internet of Things hardware vendors, referring to companies that manufacture low-power sensors, embedded gateways, modems, routers and semiconductors
- Internet of Things software and services vendors, focusing on those companies that offer data collection and management software, network development and management tools, and app development and analytics tools
- Internet of Things security vendors, focusing on the market specifically from a security services and solutions standpoint
- Industrial Internet of Things vendors, dealing with IoT as it relates to manufacturing and factory environments and blending together IT and operational technology tools
Solution providers comment that there are more challenges with the Internet of Things comparing to hardware-based projects, for instance, due to the need to collaborate with at least three different vendors for any given initiative. The whole range of components should be taken into account – starting from the hardware piece, such as routers and gateways, connectivity devices such as sensors, to software for analytics, and visualization tools.
Stephen Lurie, vice president of IoT solutions at Auburn, Wash.-based Zones, focused on development and implementation of connected elevator solutions for commercial properties, shared with CRN that the key to success is working with multiple vendors—both on the IT side and the operational technology side.
“Usually to put in new Internet of Things controls out there, you’d have to get with multiple vendors to see who has what component,” he said. “We have a quick integrated solution that ties together technology from Intel and Cisco, and we also want to work with elevator manufacturers.”
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