Inside Mobile

Why IoT is Really not about Things

Fri, 13 Feb 2015 13:23:00 -0500

IoT is really not about things, it's about PEOPLE. Sure everything (IoE) we know and see from a technology perspective points to the device, machine, or moving or static object where connectivity plays a role, intelligence and big data becomes the differentiator, applications become the enabler, and manipulation and management of information becomes the tool. However, it is People who are the most important piece of this complex space...as I would not even call it a market (but that is a whole other discussion). What will make this "market" reach the scale we are all hoping for, seeking out, and know is around the corner is PEOPLE.

Why are people so important for and to IoT? Below I have outlined 4 reasons why the IoT is about PEOPLE!

SCALE comes from PEOPLE - We need individual IoT markets to reach scale so the industry can make money, and the only way to do that is a push towards standards. These standards (and there are handful of IoT standards bodies moving forward) are pushed by the top PEOPLE in the industry including innovators, thought leaders, engineers, developers, visionaries, and executives. The long list of organizations and standards groups can be overwhelming as well. Today we have the IIC, OIC, OMA, IETF, ETSI, OneM2M, and many others. People will drive the standards, and Compass Intelligence believes a number of vital industry organizations will be the major decision-maker in these standards. Take retail for example, the NRF and major vendors in retail will be the major players in deciding some of the key POS and mobile payment IoT solutions that scale across their industry.
APPLICATIONS are driven by PEOPLE and their needs - We often hear that the IoT is about saving money, making money, and/or meeting compliancy or requirements. The primary use cases and applications for the individual industries are creating the business models for IoT. These applications are driven by the industry's need to solve problems, develop new revenue streams, meet government mandates, etc. These applications are also developed by specific needs by consumers, partners, vendors, and logistics requirements. People are the driver of many of the IoT applications today, and in fact many of the IoT solutions today including usage-based insurance, buy here pay here, connected vehicle, and connected home ARE very much consumer-driven.
SECURITY is needed because of PEOPLE - A reluctance by consumers and even large enterprises today to embrace open/Internet enabled device solutions is due to security concerns, privacy issues, and the vulnerabilities we all do not understand today about M2M and IoT. PEOPLE are the biggest threat, as hacking has become an ongoing news headline for today's largest Fortune 500 firms. Cybersecurity is also expected to become one of the most invested in areas by the federal government, based on the most current budget released this month. As we seek to reach scale, security should be front and center for IoT solutions in the marketplace.
CONSUMERIZATION - Consumers drive markets, and just as we see in other markets (tablets, wearables) when we see IoT take off on the consumer side, it opens up doors for the enterprise side. While Compass Intelligence believes the market opportunity in the long-run sits with the enterprise, it will be the consumer side that helps ramp the IoT market. Now, there is one thing to point out though, the revenue opportunity may be minimal on the consumer side as Compass Intelligence expects the enterprise or industrial side of the IoT market to present the real margins most vendors are seeking out.

MOBILITY & WIRELESS: WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2015

Thu, 12 Feb 2015 08:40:00 -0500

Compass Intelligence tracks, analyzes and reports on the entire mobile ecosystem-all the way from smartphone shipments to device recycling and things in between. This week, we wanted to provide you some snippets of three of those areas.

Reuse and Recycling: Old Phones and the Mobile Market

In 2011, Compass Intelligence created a research track devoted to device recycling and green technology known as Bamboo Mobile. Analysts look closely at carrier, retailer, OEM and recommerce trade-in, buyback and recycling programs to provide rankings and to size and forecast this area of the market. Currently, we are in the process of updating our Idle Device and Recycling Market Outlook, 2014-2019 report where we look at total idle devices (any un-active, disabled device) by device type, condition and segments. Here are some highlights from the report that comes our later this month:

The idle device (unused, de-activated phones, tablets) market reached nearly 400 million devices in 2014 and is expected to grow to 475 million by 2019.
End user survey results show that over 30% of end users have at some point in the past recycled or traded-in an old device.
About 80 million phones were recycled in some form in 2014. This includes phones bought back by retailers, carriers and OEMs and sold online via recommerce players.
Smartphones account for 52% of devices reclaimed in the US today. That number will increase to over 70% by 2019.

As this chart suggests, there remains challenges to increase take-back or reclamation rates in the industry. End users remain skeptical about the value of the device as well as keeping them due to data security concerns. As with many of the mobile market, we will keep tracking and reporting these changes in the market. For more information, look for this report coming out the end of February.

Wearables 101

One area we would be remiss if we didn't address is the wearables space. In fact, fitness and wearables were arguably the largest representation of any device-type at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. Wearables also have received mainstream media attention recently with the Apple Watch announcement and when Google said that its much-hyped Google Glass product trial would be discontinued. However, the eyewear product concept is not ending, but Google is moving it in to a new business unit. As noted on Feb 8th in Wired: "...many others running companies developing Glass software for medical, industrial, and other sectors, Google's eyewear is far from dead. On the contrary, Google is selling these companies as many devices as they need, and by all appearances, it's ramping up the number of Google employees working to turn Glass into something more than a consumer gadget that looks funny on your face."

So as the fitness wearables "compete" for attention and Glass "works" itself out, we decided to ask our Thought Leaders Panel some questions about wearables in our latest survey. We asked a few questions around the types of devices purchased as well as future interest.

Here are some insights:

Of the over 800 mobile end users surveyed, 22% said they used some type of wearable computing device, up from only about 10% at the end of 2013.
Of the 78% who said they did not have a wearable device, 63% said they did not want or need one; 42% said they were too expensive; and 27% said they could use their smartphone or device instead of a wearable.
In addition, 25% of the survey respondents plan to purchase a wearable device such as a smartwatch or fitness band in the future.

Mobile Insights

The device hardware part of the market continues to become more complex as more devices like wearables enter the market and end users habits evolve. And, with Apple's stunning quarter, the market continues to grow (as CNBC reported on Feb. 9th: "Thanks to a blockbuster quarter that included sales of nearly 75 million iPhone 6 devices, the company helped boost corporate America's bottom line in a quarter noted mostly for companies clearing a sharply lowered bar.")

However, it's also important to temper the industry with consumer feedback. We often hear and report what the suppliers (like Apple) tell us about demand, it's also nice to couple that with information directly from the end user. For our "Hot Topics" survey we also included some questions about recent smartphone purchases, upgrading habits and types of devices owned.

Depicted in the chart below, we asked mobile users if they had purchased a new smartphone in the last 12 months and over 300 respondents gave us feedback. More specifically, 41% said they had purchased an Apple device while 30% had purchase Samsung. These two companies, for this survey, comprised 71% of the share for new smartphone purchases. LG received 11% of the purchase share, making a distance 3rd.

Other key factoids from the survey include:

About 41% of all survey respondents stated that they own a smartphone, compared to about the same amount when asked at the end of 2013.
Roughly 16% of the respondents have a tablet PC, up from 14% at the end of 2013.
Feature phones are in decline as only 16% told us they have a basic or feature phone, compared to 21% in 2013.
We found that about 1/3 of the mobile users in this survey upgrade every 18 months or less which was up from about 24% at the end of 2013. (NOTE: Changing upgrade cycles have prompted carriers to push installment billing and leasing programs).

This type of survey information, along with carrier reported subscribers and OEM reported shipments, feed into a complex forecast model that computes market share and forecasts shipment and subscriber growth. The model breaks down the market in various levels of detail, down to shipments by OEM, subscribers by OEM, subscribers by device type, business account types and more. These three areas of the mobile industry are all key points of interest for Compass Intelligence Mobility and Wireless Research track in 2015 so keep checking back for new reports coming soon.

If you have additional questions or would like to find out more about the Mobile and Wireless Research or the Thought Leaders Research, please visit our website or contact Kate Pearce at 913-634-6874.

About the Author:

Kate Pearce is a Senior Mobility Analyst at Compass Intelligence where she manages consulting projects, conducts market research and develops content for Reuse and Recycling, Green Wireless, Mobility/Devices, and other Compass Intelligence markets. She is also involved in other specialized business and client development activities for the company.

Pearce is also the Editor-in-Chief of Bamboo Mobile (www.bamboo-mobile.com), an information hub designed as a resource for news and insight about mobile device reuse and recycling. Bamboo Mobile promotes device reuse and recycling as well as other sustainability efforts going on in the mobile industry. She has been quoted in major news and technology publications, including CBS News, New York Times, CNET, St. Louis Post Dispatch and Business Week.

In August 2014, Kate was listed as an inventor on a patent approved by the US Patent office for CenturyLink Intellectual Property, LLC.

COMPASS INTELLIGENCE TOP 3 IoT PREDICTIONS FOR 2015

Wed, 28 Jan 2015 15:36:00 -0500

PREDICTION 1 - THE CONNECTED CAR MARKET IS PRIMED FOR ROBUST GROWTH IN 2015

4G/LTE is going to be the key enabler of new and exciting solutions being offered to customers. Compass Intelligence is also predicting that 2015 will be the year companies crack the code on how to maintain internet enabled service renewals after the initial trial period. This has been a major challenge in the past with other services such as satellite radio. The value proposition is very robust with in-vehicle wireless broadband, and companies are developing new business models to increase renewal rates.

One question that was asked; "Why do we think the market is going to grow this year"? If we examine the sales of GM vehicles (GM is considered the pioneer in telematics/connected vehicles) in 2014, the company had a record year with 9.9 million vehicles sold. Out of this figure, the U.S. represented 2.9 million. It is anticipated that GM will have strong growth in 2015 and China will provide numerous opportunities. Furthermore, China is expected to provide solid growth for car manufacturers that participate in the country, and China represents one of the largest IoT regions globally.

From a wireless carrier standpoint, AT&T is at the fore to capture this growth in the U.S., because it won the contract with GM along with several other car manufacturers that are delivering innovative solutions. Not only is AT&T in a great position, so is Verizon and Ericsson. Verizon has developed strategic relationships/partners in this market such as Mercedes Benz, and is also expected to have solid growth in China in 2015. Ericsson, which provides the platform for the connected vehicle, is well positioned. Vodafone's acquisition of Cobra is expected to help accelerate the company's position in this space. The chart below provides a snapshot of GM sales.

Source: General Motors

The key factor that we see driving the demand for the connected vehicle is consumers. This is something that they want. The chart below displays feedback from a recent Compass Intelligence survey on in-vehicle broadband services. The study also breaks down this demand by age group. For example, the statistics are very telling with millennials because they want this technology more than other age group. We expect this age group to be at the center of the battleground for attracting new customers for car manufacturers.

Source: Compass Intelligence, 2014

PREDICTION 2 - SECURITY

The second major trend to look for in 2015 is security. We expect security to take center stage in IoT adoption. One of the key factors limiting growth in the IoT market has been security. With so many security breaches taking place, the subject is top-of-mind for governments, consumers and enterprises. With more devices being connected to the Internet, people are really concerned. We see this in both enterprise and especially in several consumer markets such as the connected home. We are predicting that 2015 will be the year that several companies throughout the IoT ecosystem will make serious strides in closing the security gap.

PREDICTION 3 - INCREASING COMPETITIVE PRESSURES IN ALL LEVELS OF THE M2M & IoT ECOSYSTEM

The market for M2M and IoT has long been the focus of investment from the mobile network operators. Over the years, an ecosystem of MVNOs have created a niche for themselves in different application areas. Hype in the market has been high and the focus has been on the number of M2M/IoT connections. The investment community has been excited about the tremendous connection growth but now the conversation has shifted to "Where is the money?"

Compass Intelligence is predicting that 2015 will be a very competitive year throughout the IoT ecosystem. As companies position themselves as market leaders around the world, we are expecting increased M&A activity in the market. Last year we saw some great deals such as the acquisitions made by PTC, Vodafone and Kore to name a few. We are anticipating companies such as Kore to continue with its activity as it grows globally. Not only are we expecting to see deals in the IoT market, we are predicting that several industries will have deals, which will impact the ecosystem, customer base and partnerships.

The reason why we expect this to be a good year for M&A's is based on several factors such as a stabilized economy in the U.S., availability of cheap capital and several companies have a considerable amount of cash in their war chest. Some of the sectors that we expect to see movement in, which will impact growth opportunities for IoT companies, are healthcare and oil/gas. The below chart displays Compass Intelligence forecast on the M2M/IoT market.

There you have it Compass Intelligence's top 3 predictions in 2015, with a 4th bonus prediction of increased competition between AT&T, Verizon and Vodafone. Look for our commentary on the 4th prediction in an upcoming article. Along with our 5th one which is obvious, wearables. Stay tuned.

The Outlook for Sensors in M2M & IoT

Wed, 28 Jan 2015 10:04:00 -0500

Source: WT VOX

Imagining a connected world with people interacting through virtual reality, smart and automated homes that work at the touch of finger on any mobile device, smart cities and smarter infrastructure, fully automated vehicles, smart and intelligent cloud technology is no longer mind boggling or much of a challenge. We are living in this reality and all indicators point to an increasingly connected world which is made possible through sensors.

Sensors help transmit Information and this real-time communication has become a powerful tool reshaping M2M connectivity and applications it can be used for. More impetus is coming from not just sensor companies, but from carriers as well as hardware companies. Sensors have been traditionally used for fleet or asset tracking to provide tracking services or fuel level, usage etc. However progress of performance, increasing bandwidths and smarter sensors have elevated the usage of sensors. There is a lot of excitement generated around the “connected” products, spearheaded by the connected car and connected home news. The success of a truly connected product comes from sensors. Often in the background, the future of smart electronics and M2M/IOT lies in advancing sensor technologies. In an upcoming sensors study from Compass Intelligence, the initial findings are unanimous in the fact that sensor technology and continuous sensor product development will yield a new future of connected products.

Currently, sensors are ubiquitous within M2M products and the use of embedded sensors and compact semiconductor chips are further enabling accurate and faster real-time communication over wireless networks, especially 4G as well as cloud technology. Sensors now have the ability to mold the level of innovation in terms of product design, product usability- be it connected products within a smart home, connected car, remote health monitoring or manufacturing.

The world of sensors is very comprehensive and usage ranges from pressure, temperature, humidity or flow etc. Among the sensor family, wireless sensors have come a long way and have found key applications in medical, industrial and manufacturing, Oil and Gas, agriculture etc. One of the key application for sensors within M2M market is the automotive industry. With the buzz around connected cars on the rise, sensors on Bluetooth applications (BMW, Audi, Ford, Mercedes Benz, and Toyota) is on the rise. Other communication protocols such as ZigBee, Wi-Fi or UWB have also been adopted in the connected car arena. Collaborations between automotive OEMs and mobile providers have taken connected car to new heights. Another area of tremendous growth for sensors in M2M is the connected home.

The increasing usage of mobile phones and other mobile devices will engender a significant growth of intelligent sensors. Sensors are finding a healthy presence in manufacturing sector as well. The move to “smart or connected or brilliant” factories is creating a plethora of new opportunities for sensor companies. GE has taken a step ahead in its intelligent platforms for the industrial sector and its brilliant factory implementations. While GE is its own biggest customer in many ways, Honeywell has had more success with its sensor technologies with external customers. Wearables will bring in the additional and significant push for smart sensors. The use of MEMs based sensors is expected to grow exponentially due to a growing wearables market. This actually bodes well for all sensors companies and the associated supply chain partners. As a result, there will be increasing collaborations across sensors networks to support design and communication platforms.

There are still challenges to overcome which include ensuring longer battery life, lower power consumption, ensuring reliability, and continuous product innovation. As sensor technology continues to improve, sensors of smaller form factor will yield new M2M applications.

There is a huge potential in the sensors world. There is great demand for wireless sensors globally and this is expected to grow at an exponential pace. There are efforts to offer a standardized wireless sensors. For example, the ZigBee alliance or the ISA standard are two notable ones. Another notable mention is the recent endorsement of Sensor Platform Inc.’s Open Sensor Platform by ARM Semiconductors. While a completely open sensor platform is not anywhere close on the horizon, there will be more attention laid on new business models and creating new value chains. This makes sense as market leaders such as Honeywell or GE maintain product differentiation and profitability through proprietary sensor technology. However, there more profitable avenues that will be derived from newer applications in the M2M/IoT world, that will help push for a more flexible sensor platform. There is a lot at stake for not just sensor companies but also OEMs and other eco-system partners.

INTERNATIONAL CES 2015 WRAP-UP: INNOVATIONS ABOUND; MARKET AVAILABILITY AND ADOPTION REMAINS FUZZY

Fri, 23 Jan 2015 09:03:00 -0500

Introduction

International CES 2015 lived up to its usual hype in that it featured a range of innovative/advanced technologies across a broad spectrum of industries including computing & communications, entertainment & gaming, health/fitness wearables, home automation, next-generation automotive electronics, and a host of other segments. The show featured 3,600 exhibitors including nearly 400 startup companies that displayed a variety of products targeted at various consumer segments. This article highlights some of the more prominent technology trends observed at CES 2015 and also highlights the challenges and opportunities faced by vendors as they strive to move their innovative devices and solutions from idea labs to commercialization.

Wearable Devices

While the wearables’ segment is touted as a high growth area, most of this growth is likely to remain skewed toward health/fitness monitoring devices. Included in this segment are the likes of FitBit, Misfit, Sony, Nike, AmpStrip, Bragi, InBody Band, and several others. While these devices deliver specific and rather narrow functionality such as sleep monitoring, calories, heart rate monitoring, etc., several factors are likely to drive consumer demand for these including increasing focus on improving personal health, rising healthcare provider and payer focus on enhancing overall care delivery while reducing operating costs, burgeoning distribution channels, presence of support infrastructure and devices such as smartphones and web-based applications.

In addition to the health/fitness wearables, CES 2015 was rife with vendors that displayed their existing and upcoming smartwatch products. With regard to smartwatches, some of the more notable brands on display included Alcatel OneTouch, Sony Smartwatch 3, Withings Activite Pop, Garmin Vivoactive, and several others. Most of these smartwatches while incorporating the health/fitness functionality also offer GPS as well as limited entertainment & communication capability. From a pricing perspective, the range goes from $150 to $500 depending on the brand and embedded functionality.

Final Word on Wearables

In the absence of a clear and meaningful feature/functionality-based differentiation within the health/fitness wearable segment, factors such as brand recognition, effective distribution channel arrangements, and pricing are likely to emerge as key factors influencing consumer adoption. With regard to smartwatches, this segment is likely to continue to face adoption challenges owing mainly to the lack of a clear value proposition for such devices-many of which are priced rather steeply, offer limited functionality, and in many cases lack aesthetic appeal.

Connected Vehicles

One of the more prominent and rather interesting product categories that attracted attention at CES 2015 was the Connected Vehicle segment. The Connected Vehicle segment featured many prominent brands including Audi, BMW, Daimler AG, Volkswagen and others, many of which are increasingly incorporating advanced functionality in their vehicles. Working alongside vendors such as Nvidia, for instance, Audi is incorporating a broad set of features in “tomorrow’s vehicle” including self-driving, self-parking, and other capabilities.

Compass Intelligence believes that the ongoing evolution of the Connected Vehicles will bring about several new revenue generating business models for a variety of players including but not limited to wireless carriers, microprocessor chip vendors such as Nvidia, automotive OEMs, and other component providers. Within the wireless carrier segment, Verizon Wireless has already announced its Verizon Vehicle offering that combines small hardware and a set of services designed to enhance driver safety while also adding convenience with its GPS location tracking. Within the OEM segment, GM and others are increasingly rolling out vehicles with embedded Internet connectivity capability in order to further lure customers to their brands.

Final Word on Connected Vehicles

Despite the evolving nature of this segment, Connected Vehicle is likely to become mainstream in a relatively short-period of time. While the notion of a self-driving vehicle is still years away, the addition of incremental capabilities such as assisted-parking is already on the way as many OEMs are embedding such capability across their cars, vans, SUVs, and trucks. Similarly OEMs are also rushing to add features such as automatic braking when approaching an object to further driver and passenger safety. While many of these features are currently only available in the higher-end models, with the continuing decline in technology costs and a greater need to differentiate in the marketplace is likely to prompt OEMs to incorporate a number of these capabilities in their mid-priced models.

Consumer Appliances/Devices

While many devices within the consumer appliance segment (which includes entertainment, communication, and computing devices) are likely to realize a relatively faster adoption cycle, others are likely to struggle in terms of delivering a precise and concrete value proposition. With regard to emerging smartphone vendors, various Chinese handset vendors displayed a number of new Android-based devices such as the Honor 6 Plus from Huawei that packs in a superb 1080p HD display and three 8 megapixel cameras to further entice the photography enthusiasts. Similarly, Huawei also showcased its P7 smartphone with sapphire glass designed to add greater stability and strength to the phone’s display. Several of these smartphones while having superb features and functionality are likely to pose more of a threat for both Samsung and Apple in international markets including China and some European countries since they are not yet available in the US market today.

Within the entertainment devices and solutions’ segment, while varying TV-set formats maintained a strong presence, certain other devices such as high-resolution audio players also attempted to stir consumer interest. Two of the more prominent high-resolution audio players included the Pono Player and Sony’s ZX2 Walkman. Despite the integration of MP3 capability into smartphones and tablets, these high-resolution audio devices are likely to only realize niche demand. For these vendors, many challenges would have to be overcome in order to realize a sustainable business model including creating effective brand/product awareness (specifically for Pono Player and other emerging vendors), establishing effective distribution channels, and conveying a solid and convincing pitch regarding the value proposition of such devices.

For a more detailed analysis of 2015 International CES, check out the related report: International CES 2015 Wrap-up: Innovations Abound; Market Availability and Adoption Remains Fuzzy

For other reports in the Mobility & Wireless Research track, please click here.

Recent Reports Published in Mobility & Wireless:

About the Author:

Kate Pearce

Director of Mobility Research Track

http://www.compassintelligence.com/?q=kate-pearce

2015 Compass Intelligence Awards Luncheon at International CES

Thu, 15 Jan 2015 11:45:00 -0500

The Alphabet Soup of IoT, M2M, Industrial Internet, IoE dominates CES

Compass Intelligence held its second annual Awards luncheon at CES on Wed, Jan. 7 in South Hall of LVCC, Room S228. This event included four categories of mobile awards: 1) Mobility Awards, 2) A-List in M2M (machine-to-machine) Awards, 3) the Bamboo Mobile Green Technology awards, and 4) Customer & Digital Experience awards. The event was attended by members of the press who write about mobile and wireless. At the end of the event, a press release has been issued announcing all the winners of the 2015 Compass Intelligence Awards that were selected by over 60 members of the press and analyst community.

The agenda for the event was stacked with some leading thought leaders in the industry. Jamison Cush, Executive Editor, Technology Guide, TechTarget was the host and emcee for the event. In addition to his hosting duties, Jamison peeked into the magic 8-ball to make some bold predictions on what 2015 means for the mobile industry. His predictions include:

Microsoft will once again be a relevant contender in the mobile world in 2015
Connected home and the Internet of Things will remain a “buzzworthy” topic, however, it will not be perceived as “future technology”
Apple will release a Watch and technology editors will gush about how Apple invented the category of wearables
Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Xiaomi Inc., will be the toast of the industry as it flirts with 10% global market share to rank as the 3^rd largest smartphone manufacturer (ahead of Apple).

While Jamison provided the wit and lighthearted moments for the luncheon, he did not count on the wit of the other speakers at the luncheon. AirWatch by VMware was represented by Mark Williams, Director of Federal Government Solutions. He sat down for a 15 minute 1:1 discussion with Stephanie Atkinson, CEO & Founder, Compass Intelligence. They discussed a wide range of topics that included details about the synergies of getting acquired by VMware, expanding partner ecosystem, expanding product portfolio, and impact of BYOD and wearables.

Our second fireside chat was with AT&T’s Shiraz Hasan, AVP for Industrial IoT who was interviewed by Keith Robinson, Director of M2M & IoT Research, Compass Intelligence. During the chat he discussed some of the latest developments at AT&T and how the M2M/IoT ecosystem is evolving along with winning strategies to be successful in the industry. Shiraz also shared some innovative use cases that will help transform multiple industries. The talk was very insightful and helped provide clarity to those that are monitoring the M2M/IoT market.

The final fireside chat was with Dave Lowe, GM & VP of Enterprise Sales at Samsung Telecommunications America, who sat down with Jamison to talk about Samsung’s enterprise solutions and services strategy for 2015. Lowe provided insight on how Samsung’s 360 Services for Business, announced in October, will offer comprehensive services and solutions to provide the most value to its enterprise customers.

We were honored that AirWatch by VMware, AT&T and Samsung Telecommunications America were gold sponsors for our luncheon and participated in these candid discussions to make our event a success.

However, that wasn’t all we had. We had 3 great companies come up on stage to showcase their technology and solutions for the mobile industry. These innovative companies, Camgian Microsystems, Atheer Labs and wot.io were bronze sponsors for our event.

First up was Darren Raybourn, VP of Product Management, Camgian Microsystems. Darren entertained the crowd by showcasing Egburt, which allows for multi-sensor network solutions to be built and configured effectively without the need for computer scientists and technologists. Next was Alberto Torres, CEO, Atheer Labs. Alberto demonstrated their smart glass that has a variety of applications in critical industries such as oil & gas and healthcare. Following Alberto was Allen Proithis, President & Founder, wot.io. Allen focused on the importance of partner ecosystems and how working with a company like wot.io can really help IoT companies take their solutions to the next level.

In addition to these innovative companies taking the stage to showcase their solutions, we were joined by Andrew Morawski, Head of M2M (Americas), Vodafone, who sat down for a quick conversation with Keith Robinson. During the conversation, Andrew highlighted Vodafone’s strategies including their new role as MVNO in the US. On the state of the market, Andrew commented on the challenges of implementing and simplifying M2M. More importantly, he believes there is great value to be derived from data capture and analysis in 2015. Interestingly, Andrew also hinted upon the growth of industrial sectors such as manufacturing and role Vodafone is eager to play in that space. Andrew also talked about how experts didn't get it wrong about the potential of the market. They just saw what M2M/IoT can provide as an end result. However, before the market can reach its full potential it must go through several stages.

Throughout the luncheon, we announced winners in different categories. Kate Pearce announced winners in the Mobility & Bamboo Mobile Green Technology categories, Keith Robinson and Allen Proithis announced winners for the A-List in M2M & IoT, and Heather Taylor announced winners for the Customer & Digital Experience category. At the end of the event, we invited all the representatives from winning companies to join us on stage for photo opps with Stephanie and various research track leaders from Compass Intelligence. All the images from the luncheon can be viewed here (Videos coming shortly).

Overall, the event went off seamlessly and was well-attended by representatives from vendors and the press. During the event, we gave away various devices including:

2 Amazon Kindle Fire HD6
Bluetooth speakers
A big Thank you to Samsung for providing us with the Samsung Galaxy Fit and 2 Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4.

In closing, I would like to thank everyone that made this annual luncheon a success. A huge thank you to our sponsors, award winners, members of the press, our media partners, and every employee of Compass Intelligence that attended and helped behind the scenes. We look forward to continuing this tradition of announcing our winners at CES each year and look forward to seeing you in January 2016 for the 2016 Compass Intelligence Awards Luncheon.

Misdirected Hype! Enterprise IoT & Wearables Advance Operations.

Mon, 15 Dec 2014 13:12:00 -0500

Much of the hype around the Internet of Things (IoT) and M2M (machine-to-machine) solutions is centered on the consumer, but this is expected to change or at least I hope it will soon. We are inundated with articles, press, and other media around smart homes, connected vehicles, mHealth, and consumer wearables. This is all great for the industry as a whole and for major players in the Connected Ecosystem, yet the real excitement and opportunity for the market should be concentrated around yes, you got it, "THE ENTERPRISE."

Below are 5 key areas, where the enterprise will benefit from IoT and wearable technology. This is where the HYPE should be, but is lacking today!

Operations will become "Smart" by Being Connected
Assets Gain Value and Become More Protected
Wearables provide USEFUL real-time enterprise information
Industry Applications Become Heavily Integrated into Corporate Systems
Employees become greatly enabled and accountable

Operations will become "Smart" by Being Connected

Operations from small startups to global multi-national companies (MNCs) have the opportunity to leverage embedded connectivity and real-time "intelligent data" into a number of areas of their business. Industries such as manufacturing, transportation, distribution, and government are just a few examples of where IoT will have the most impact. The intelligence that will be delivered to all levels of employees will and is providing real-time information to better protect, act, and respond to customer or client needs. This takes place in product development, logistics, customer service, and other pertinent areas of the enterprise. An example would be a Candy Factory connecting the entire factory floor and improving just-in-time manufacturing to provide deliveries to distributors and better meet customer demand. Operations automation, demand response, asset protection, and real-time inventory become astute activities as a result of IoT. The biggest names are launching platforms to enable IoT, including recently Intel and ARM. This platform play is crossing into enterprise application development, integration, device management, operations management, and IT management.

Related Links:

Assets Gain Value and Become More Protected

Those that are already tracking their corporate assets can testify to the long list of cost-saving benefits. Asset tracking and monitoring, whether general goods or equipment or high-value assets, enable businesses to protect their most valued investments, reduce shrinkage or loss, and secure precious assets that directly affect their bottom line. Tracking and monitoring has been a strong area of focus for delivery and distribution companies, yet this key horizontal IoT application becomes more important for many industries including Education. Universities, for example, will leverage this IoT application to track their transportation systems, improve their energy usage and management, and provide real-time information to logistics and ordering for their food services departments and locations.

Wearables provide USEFUL real-time enterprise information

Today wearables are "nice to have" and fall into a niche area of the consumer market. The most exciting opportunities for wearables are how businesses can leverage these devices for business activities. There are a number of jobs that require a hands-free environment and would greatly benefit from having intelligence at the glance of a watch or even visible through wearable glasses. Take for example oil workers, construction workers, law enforcement, and the military (already heavy users of wearable technology). In addition, wearables that can be worn or even attached to a hard hat or shoe may provide benefits we are not even aware of today. This is where voice automation, authentication, and speech technology become more integral into the workforce. Developers are beginning to look to the enterprise to develop core applications for the workforce, but until we get there, wearables will just fall into the niche area of the market for consumers as a "cool gadget."

Related Links:

· How One Company Uses Wearables

· Is Your Office in Need of Guidelines for Wearables?

Industry Applications Become Heavily Integrated into Corporate Systems

Today, industries across the board rely on enterprise systems and applications to conduct day-to-day business including customer service, e-commerce, logistics, order fulfillment, production, inventory management, and more. These systems can many times be disparate and not share information across or between each other, essentially they are not integrated. With the advancement in IoT, it will be imperative to share this "Big Data" directly with these systems or application areas and to share this intelligence between these enterprise applications. Companies like SAP and IBM become major players as they currently have the strong relationship with the enterprise customer, in addition to companies like Salesforce.com and Microsoft. Take for example the retail industry, which heavily relies on inventory management, POS systems, and CRM systems for daily work activities. These systems become "smart" and as transactions are complete, this real-time information is shared with other systems and key personnel to provide a more personable shopping experience for consumers.

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Employees become greatly enabled and accountable

The most exciting area is how IoT will change the workforce landscape as we know it today. We have a long way to go, but this is what the industry is working towards. Intelligence gathered from a number of IoT/M2M applications will filter to respective executives, managers, and varying levels of the workforce. Client-facing platforms and device management interfaces will enable IT managers and other line of business managers to manage how information gets shared with specific workers and how to respond to that information whether it be through an automated response or manual intervention. These platforms will be integrated and communicate with existing communications and data centers, as well as feed data directly to the tablet, smartphone or wearable device of key employees. This may eliminate certain job positions in the future, but also free up resources to contribute to other profit-centered activities of companies. Information relating to key operational problems, alerts, troubleshooting, and just-in-time delivery of goods and services are made available in real-time interfaces. This better enables management and staff to provide improved services, better quality products, and has a key goal to reduce problems and errors that cost companies millions or billions of dollars. Accountability of work activities is leveraged through real-time intelligence information feeding to workers, allowing for better response and information to act quickly and even automate the most common activities through existing systems and enterprise software/applications.

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For more information or to access the Compass Intelligence M2M, IoT, and Connected Devices Research Track

Access to more IoT news by Industry - http://news.ne2ne.com/

THIRD QUARTER CARRIER SNAPSHOT - NOVEMBER 2014

Thu, 13 Nov 2014 18:07:00 -0500

Each quarter, a team of wireless analysts at Compass Intelligence comb through financial documents to analyze, define and make sense of the wireless industry by collecting and collocating metrics and facts. To do this, we peruse the financials of the four major carriers and many of the regional providers. This includes 10-Q reports, carrier earnings presentations, banking reports and earnings transcripts. We seek to compare metrics and identify changes/trends in the industry to help formulate a better story for our clients. Here is a snapshot of some of the things what we saw in 3Q 2014.

The table above is a compilation of key 3Q 2014 metrics around retail subscribers, churn, advanced device subscriber base, share/installment plans and more.

Some of the overall themes in the industry driving net additions and lower churn include:

Aggressive pricing with new monthly plans
Increased data buckets
New flagship smartphone and tablet models entering the market
Installment plans (moving away from the handset subsidy model)
Tablet growth

Read on to find our more highlights among each of the carriers.

For more detailed information, please check out the Compass Intelligence Mobile and Wireless Research track by clicking here.

Verizon

Another strong quarter for Verizon where the company surpassed 100M retail postpaid subscribers for the first time.
The company reported over 1.5M postpaid net adds, largest in the industry.
Verizon says profitability is coming from lower churn (focused on customer retention), company efficiencies and growth is via strong tablet sales.
Verizon also reported is had 6.5M active tablets.

AT&T

AT&T posted good overall net additions and the lowest postpaid churn in the industry.
The company is more aggressive with Next than other carriers. AT&T said that it added another 3.4M subscribers to its Next program, making the total over 10M.
AT&T also said it had 47M subscribers on its share plans
The carrier also reported over 18M connected devices (wearables, tracking, in-car) on its network.

Sprint

Sprint continued to struggle with adding customers. It reported over 330K postpaid net losses.
The company is still adding customers in the wholesale and M2M channels, however.
Sprint is starting to get more aggressive with pricing, so we may see an uptick in 4Q14.
The carrier reported 2.22% retail postpaid churn, which was the highest among the four major carriers.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile reported another stellar quarter, adding 2.1M total additions which led the industry.
The company is also continuing to lower churn and reported 1.6% postpaid churn.
T-Mobile is reporting strong smartphone adds but is still lagging in tablet subscribers. We estimate the carrier has around 1M total activated tablets.

Other

"Other" consists of carriers like Tracfone, US Cellular, Cincinnati Bell Wireless and Alaska Digital.
Many of these carriers are losing subscribers as the larger carriers pricing plans and coverage is very competitive.
Major prepaid carriers like Tracfone continue to add subscribers.

Summary

Overall, the industry added new subscribers (we estimate about 4.7M net additions) with many of these being tablets (we estimate over 2M were new tablet additions). Installment plans are gaining more traction. We estimate over 19M subscribers on installment or early upgrade plans. AT&T is leading this charge as the carrier seeks to move completely away from handset subsidies as a way to improve its bottom line. However, as the industry continues to mature, each of the wireless carriers will need to become increase focus on retaining customers with improved network coverage and customer care. Verizon has been doing this with network improvements and cutting costs internally. Overall, the mobile carriers will also need to offer additional services to create new revenue streams, such as in-home connectivity, wearables and in-car solutions.

About the Author

In August 2014, Kate was listed as an inventor on a patent approved by the US Patent office for CenturyLink Intellectual Property, LLC.

The New Gold Standard in Management Excellence

Wed, 12 Nov 2014 10:50:00 -0500

Everyone is familiar with the gold standard that was set by GE as the breeding ground for CEO’s. GE’s legacy of strong leadership from the likes of Jack Welch and Jeff Immelt has been studied by many. Furthermore, several companies have incorporated some of GE’s best practices into their organizations. Today technology companies are faced with multiple challenges that require unique approaches. Some of these challenges include:

Developing a strong workforce that can handle the rapid advancement of mobile technology
Transitioning from historical core markets to disruptive emerging ones
Trustworthy partnerships in complex ecosystems
Maintaining innovation and developing new products for growth

Currently, there is one company that is hitting on all cylinders and developing the next generation of business leaders that will be considered the Gold Standard in management. AT&T is addressing several of the above challenges companies face today. We will examine some of the approaches AT&T is taking.

To help solve the challenge of improving the skills of its employees to meet the needs of the business, the leadership of Randall Stephenson and Ralph de la Vega and many others within the company partnered with Georgia Tech and Udacity. This program allows AT&T employees to receive a Master’s Degree from Georgia Tech or take individual classes to receive an Udacity Certificate. For the Master’s program, the cost is below $7,000, which is very cost effective considering tuition at several tier-1 schools are north of $50,000 per year. Not only is AT&T advancing its workforce, it is providing a model that other companies can follow. Not only will this add new skills for employees it will also help attract new talent, thus giving it a competitive advantage in the market. In addition to this you see leaders such as Ralph de la Vega very active in their communities in regards to education, for example he is a board member at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

Maintaining an innovative work force has been a challenge for several technology companies. It is no secret that different types of people excel in different environments. For example, employees who are creative and have an entrepreneurial spirit tend to thrive in an incubator setting. Several companies are setting up innovative centers to help spur innovation. AT&T has foundries located throughout the U.S. that serve different purposes. The foundries are helping AT&T to develop new products for growth. This approach is also great because it brings a start-up mentality to the company and it has high visibility with its management team. To make this approach a successful venture requires the right type of leaders that can navigate a large organization to market the best ideas and have the ability to work with a creative fast paced staff. In this case, AT&T has several very bright leaders such as Brooks McCorcle and Carlton Hill just to name a few.

One obstacle to innovation and generating new revenue streams is the political minefield as it relates to a core market/cash cow. There is a misconception in the technology industry that large companies do not innovate. This is not true at all, in fact large companies have some of the best innovation, and great ideas but they get lost in internal politics. The amount of technology and solutions that are locked up in several companies are mind blowing. If some companies looked outside of their industry they would realize they have a solution that may solve a critical challenge in another industry, which can provide a new revenue stream.

In my 15+ years of consulting this is one of the major reasons why companies miss opportunities. For example, imagine being in the telecom industry 20 years ago; if someone mentioned wireless, people would have thought you were crazy and they would tell you landline will always be the major revenue generator. Or imagine if your company sells home locks and you mentioned home automation and the Internet of Things, they would have laughed and said nobody would pay for this. Or imagine being a consultant and you have a major sensor company as a client and you recommend that they partner with Nintendo and several cell phone manufacturers that are evaluating MEMs accelerometers but they declined to pursue this opportunity but their cash cow is in the automotive industry. Today video games and smartphones contain MEMs accelerometers and the company that passed on the opportunity had several years of financial difficulty. Fear of upsetting the core business is one of the top reasons companies miss out on opportunities or become obsolete.

To help solve this problem, starting new companies away from the core business is a great approach. We see several companies using this approach. If we examine AT&T’s Digital Life, the company has one of the most compelling connected home solutions in the market. In tracking the traditional security and home automation market for years, AT&T is way ahead of the traditional companies that participate in this space. This should not have happened, but the traditional companies’ lack of vision and fear opened the door for innovative companies. To be honest I find the approach that AT&T is attempting to take will make them one of the most visionary companies in the world because they will bring together multiple technologies for a mobile lifestyle. While attending a roundtable session with Kevin Peterson at a recent industry analyst conference, he mentioned that the company is examining creative sales models to disrupt the market because the traditional path to market is not effective for mass adoption in the connected home market.

The connected home is going to be the one area that is going to see a transformation over the years but one market that is about to change immediately is the connected car. What makes AT&T unique in this area is that they are not trying to push a certain platform but working closely with their partners on delivering what consumers and their partners want in a vehicle. Glen Lurie and Chris Penrose are really honed into customer needs. This is an area that we see other companies fail in various industries by not truly understanding end-user wants and needs and that disconnect leads to failure. You really see a disconnect in companies that have a strong engineering focus. However, AT&T does not have that problem, from top to bottom; the employees at the organization are on the same page with customers.

The true test of strong leadership is when you have strategic alliances in complex markets. AT&T does a great job in this area so they do not trip up their partners and everyone is working for a common goal. An example of this would be its partnership with GE. One of the most intriguing markets for growth is the Internet of Things market. Each vertical in this sector operates differently and the ecosystem varies by segment and even by sub-segment. To be successful in this type of industry requires deep domain knowledge across various markets and disciplines. There is a reason that AT&T has the most M2M connections because of the investments made by Mike Troiano, Abhi Ingle and Shiraz Hasan – leaders that understand the ecosystem and business models of various industries.

In fact, that’s one of the reasons AT&T cites for the recent combining of their Business and Mobility organizations to form Mobility and Business Solutions and the creation of the IoT (Internet of Things) organization led by Chris Penrose. The ABS Machine to Machine business is now a part of the Industrial IoT organization led by Mike Troiano.

With mobility taking center stage, companies will need to look at examples of leaders and organizations that are very successful. As various markets advance, we anticipate that AT&T will be the next breeding ground for innovative CEO’s that will fill the ranks of various industries.

Keith Robinson is the Director for M2M/IoT at Compass Intelligence. With over 20 years experience in a wide range of M2M applications (healthcare, energy, automotive, security, industrial automation, building automation, etc.), Keith brings a unique perspective to M2M and IoT. Click here for Compass Intelligence's coverage of M2M & IoT.

Snapshot Assessment of Kore’s Acquisition of Raco Wireless

Tue, 11 Nov 2014 10:01:00 -0500

Today’s announcement of Kore Telematics acquisition of Raco Wireless has the potential to create the most dynamic MVNO in the M2M/IoT market. Once the M&A is complete, Kore will have the largest number of cellular connections for an MVNO in the U.S. The M&A will give the company the size and scale it needs for accelerated growth and operational efficiencies. Furthermore, it will give the company the foundation it needs to be a major player in other geographies of the world. Below is a short-list of what Compass Intelligence views as key impacts to this M&A:

Increased growth in markets outside of the U.S., such as Europe and Asia
Strong leadership with varied skills across the wireless industry
Leverage to negotiate better deals with carriers globally
Development of innovative solutions
Vertical market expertise from both companies will create synergies across various sectors

Some might wonder if the combined company will be in direct competition with carriers. Compass Intelligence sees Kore acting as an extension of the carriers, thus becoming a trusted partner. This will also allow carriers to tap into vertical market expertise where they may have gaps. The mind-share that the combined company brings to the table will help set it apart from other MVNO’s.

It’s no secret that the U.S. market is growing rapidly in the M2M market, it is expected that some of the best practices learned will be able to help grow the European and Asian market as well. This will be crucial because we see carriers in other regions of the world struggling with M2M such as Latin America. Raco is experiencing success in the region and their best practices are expected to be replicated around the world.

If we step back and evaluate the M2M market as a chess board, we can see that several companies are positioning themselves to be strong players on the global stage. For example, PTC has made major acquisitions, AT&T and Verizon have the foundation in place to compete globally and now Kore is in a solid position.

“What’s next”?, is what people are asking that observe the M2M market. Compass Intelligence believes this is the tip of the iceberg. We expect this acquisition will spur more M&A activity because this is an industry nobody wants to be on the outside looking in. The following chart highlights M&A activity is picking up. We believe the moves that will be made over the next 9 months will dictate the winners and losers in the M2M/IoT market.

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Biometrics Comes of Age for Mobile Applications - EyeVerify Launches Eyeprint ID v2.0

Mon, 03 Nov 2014 17:59:00 -0500

The pervasiveness of IoT and M2M connectivity with the usage of smartphones is transforming and compounding security concerns. There is an increased and much needed focus on securing data collection, analysis and storage. With so much data floating around, there are too many opportunities for unauthorized data access. Whether it relates to the complex system within smart retailing or banking, security aspects surrounding data security has never been more stringent.

There are major implications for all industry players across the ecosystem and end-consumers alike. Thus far, security aspects have been focused around safeguarding data, however with initiatives from companies such as EyeVerify, attention is moving towards optimizing connectivity, ease of use and utilization across industries. Understandably, there is increasing and noticeable transition into biometrics-related security features from voice to fingerprints etc., for all systems. The usage of biometrics is not a new and novel concept. Biometrics has been used for surveillance and security for the past 2 decades and has helped ease the issues of safeguarding firewalls and any system downtime due to illegal disruption. Biometrics such as voice, fingerprint, retina and eye vein identification technologies can increase security. The level of security a biometric solution can bring transcends levels between the physical, digital and wireless infrastructures. Compass intelligence has tracked the M2M and security markets quite extensively. It is always exciting to follow the evolution of technology and companies that are creating new possibilities for enhancing security.

While there are several broad and enterprising solutions currently in the market, a large majority of them lack the uniqueness offered by EyeVerify. The company is a leading provider for biometrics solutions for mobile applications. The company already well known for its patented biometric solution Eyeprint ID^TM, recently released its EyePrint ID v2.0. This solution is expected to elevate the level of security, identity protection and convenience provided to any transaction on any smartphone or tablet. The company has been well reputed for its robust biometrics solution and this is just another notch in its enviable product solutions portfolio. EyeVerify’s recent offering seems to embody the future of biometrics solutions for complex solutions such as mobile payments. As showcased by its latest unveiling, the company has endeavored to create secure solutions for mobile applications. This will have a resounding impact on boosting mobile commerce and the overall user experience.

With the use of advanced cameras built in smartphones and tablets, EyeVerify’s patented Eyeprint ID technology uses eye vein biometrics to identify and authorize users. The solution matches the pattern of blood vessels in the users’ eyes for a highly secure, less hackable identity protection. While there are other biometrics-based solutions out there, EyeVerify is the only company that currently offers this scalable and robust version of eye vein recognition for mobile security. And for those who write down passwords lest they forget them, this solution eliminates the need for passwords. In past iterations of the solution, users had to look up and turn to the right for the cameras to complete the scan. With the newly released v2.0, users simply need to look directly at the device for accurate scanning.

This is just one way EyeVerify is addressing the vexing and ever-evolving challenges of mobile security. As smartphones and tablets continue on the path of instant communication and additional customer interaction for shopping, banking etc., the advantages of the solution become multifold.

The company expects to release its Eyeprint ID v2.0 in early January 2015. This solution can be used across iOS and android devices and apps. With strong partnerships with industry leaders such as Good Technology™, EyeVerify well-positioned as an innovative and forward thinking company. All the above mentioned facts lead to the impressive news about the significant round of funding for EyeVerify from big companies and ecosystem partners such as Samsung, Wells Fargo, Sprint and Qihoo 360.

Go Mobile 2014 - The Dynamic World of M2M & Big Data

Mon, 03 Nov 2014 12:45:00 -0500

There has been a lot of coverage and hype pertaining to machine-to-machine (M2M communication). Compass Intelligence produced the Go Mobile event that addressed key trends surrounding M2M technology and how it is helping companies to evolve by creating new business models, operational efficiencies and new product development. The goal of the panels was to address top of the mind questions IT decision makers had regarding M2M. The conference provided great insight into addressing key questions as it relates to Big Data, security, and new business models, just to name a few.

Sprint’s keynote session for the Go Mobile M2M track given by Dave Falter, Sprint’s Director of Enterprise Solutions (he also gave the opening keynote session) discussed key growth factors for M2M. He demonstrated how connected devices are changing the way companies do business as well as how we live our daily lives. Dave helped the audience see how the Future of Work is rapidly changing as new solutions are deployed. The portion of presentation that immediately grabbed everyone’s attention was M2M’s return on investment… 94% of businesses see some ROI, while 34% see significant ROI from deploying M2M solutions. A good M2M deployment with maximum derived ROI depends on the ability of the partner to deliver on the customer’s specific solution need. To that end, he indicated Sprint has moved from a product driven approach to a solutions approach which has led to strong partnerships across all verticals. Dave also discussed Sprint’s differentiators including ability to support connections from 2G, 3G and 4G capabilities, and support open network architecture. His presentation showcased the endless possibilities of M2M solutions.

Every day there are press releases and articles discussing the interesting changes taking place in the M2M world and it will only continue to increase. It is true that with the right implementation, M2M has the potential to alter the way we live life, work, travel, purchase etc. The keynotes from Sprint, Samsung and fireside chats with AT&T and panel discussions all point to one resonating factor- the potential and benefits of the right M2M solution is tremendous. The challenge is to understand and see beyond the glorified benefits IT pundits have been raving about without touching upon the essentials.

The conference had a number of forward thinkers from innovative companies on panels to share their thoughts. At the end of the day, IT decision makers and business leaders are striving to keep their companies on par with evolving technologies, but really are spinning wheels when it comes to ensuring that their strategies and technologies are forward looking. Here are some thoughts shared by panelists and key note speakers:

Share resources and knowledge to utilize M2M and improve internal performance and replicate best practices.
Understand the nuances of M2M solutions, implications on the enterprise- the end result “create new financial models and redefine customer experience”.
Interestingly and noticeably there were questions related to what M2M means to IT decision makers and how should IT decision makers view their role in choosing the right M2M solution.
How M2M solutions can help build and create flexible business models, plan for scalable solutions, understand competition, and understand the ratio between benefits and potential challenges.
The panels shed light into the steps needed to capture benefits, address any scalability issues, usability issues, security concerns and the like.

Delving a little deeper into the actual panel discussions, the panels were kicked-off by starting with discussing the integral role of cloud and its impact on M2M and enterprise mobile solutions. To answer questions, members from SAP, Wot.io, and Dropbox discussed the critical issues and the role of cloud computing and data storage with various mobile and connected enterprise solutions. Let’s face it, the topic of cloud technology has been bandied about enough. There has been less value derived from all of that if IT decision makers do not perceive what it means to them or why they should really care about it. So to help shed light, key discussion points revolved around storing and securing operational and client data, data analytics and performance, IT and device management, and key enterprise applications running over the cloud and accessed or shared via mobile or connected devices. Sounds like a lot, but all well connected thoughts to make life easier for a seamless adoption of M2M technology into any enterprise.

The panel discussion then veered to the next big area of discussion- Big Data. The amount of data that is being generated and collected is quite frankly mind boggling. As M2M connectivity continues to become pervasive, the amount of data collected will increase. The question of customers and IT decision makers is” What to do with Big Data”? This question is crucial in deciding how to better manage data and generating value from it. Companies such as SAP, Good Technology, Axeda Corporation, Numerex Corporation and Dell were on the panel to provide key insight and discuss best practices in the management of Big Data.

Not surprisingly, the most obvious route to follow was to discuss the implications of M2M on business models and ecosystem. This session with panel members from AT&T, Alcatel-Lucent, OnAsset, and Cradlepoint discussed the underlying thought: why must IT decision makers decide to embrace M2M solutions within enterprises? There is a gap in understanding the role each cadre of management plays in making the decision to implement M2M. Panel members discussed how IT executives play a key role in reshaping these models and what the future holds for new models. The highlights were to ground expectations (there is enough hype about M2M growth with billions and billions of connected devices) namely- not every solution is the harbinger of the next mega trend or the next big thing in the M2M market.

This is one reason why the conference was successful and quite frankly valuable. It helped clear some fog around the true potential of M2M technology, helped IT decision makers understand which technology will create maximum impact and thereby generate maximum value and then show them how to prepare accordingly. There is no one size fits all approach to adopting and implementing M2M solutions.

We look forward to seeing you at the next Go Mobile Conference. Join the conversations and networking to get the most up to date happenings right from key sources, technically sound discussions to address your questions, and view the latest in M2M offerings at vendor showcases and demos, just to name a few.

Go Mobile 2014: A Mobile Ecosystem Networking Event

Wed, 29 Oct 2014 16:31:00 -0500

Sessions included participants from wireless operators, mobile device manufacturers, software & services companies as well as leading enterprise IT decision makers.

The first Compass Intelligence Go Mobile conference was held at the Omni Mandalay Hotel in Los Colinas near the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport on Oct. 13-15. This event brought together key members of the mobile and wireless ecosystem. The attendees included wireless operators, mobile device manufacturers, software and services companies as well as leading enterprise IT decision makers and members of the press and analyst community.

What's so good about an event like this is that everyone who attended had a chance to interact with others. A number of attendees were able to discuss strategic alliances and form new customer relationships. It's just about impossible to do interactive networking like this via email and conference calls.

This column isn't intended to list the sessions. You can see the entire agenda here. Rather, it's to give people who didn't attend a summary of the critical issues that were addressed and to provide a summary of the visuals from the conference. You can see the entire photo album here.

It was great to have Dave Falter, Director of Enterprise Solutions at Sprint do the opening keynote. He related all the technological changes that we’ve experienced over the past 10+ years and focused his discussion around "The Future of Work." Showing how enterprises can engage employees and improve productivity through mobile technology, he provided an information-packed presentation about how employees are using mobile to get work done no matter where they are.

I have included graphic summaries from the plenary panels, keynotes and Fireside Chats. The Dropbox album included photos from the breakout sessions, Technology Demonstrations and social events. Here's a summary of the first plenary panel that discussed the role of cloud in enterprise mobility.

Tim Scannell of CIO Executive Council then led a lively panel on the state of BYOD in enterprise computing.

I then led two interesting Fireside Chat sessions first with Kevin McConnell of IBM regarding their MobileFirst initiative and then with Mike Troiano of AT&T Business Solutions.

We had an interesting dinner keynote from Alberto Torres, CEO of Atheer Labs. They are building an interactive virtual reality system that is controlled by hand gestures in the display space. They believe this solution will have major deployments in health care, public safety and the military.

The second day of the conference led off with a keynote from Ben Simmons, Director of Enterprise Solutions. He discussed how Samsung is working with enterprises to provide out-of-the-box secure mobile solutions for enterprises.

One of the really interesting panel sessions was about mobile devices and the challenges enterprises face to manage them. It was moderated by Jamison Cush of TechTarget who did an excellent job.

Keith Robinson then led a Fireside Chat with Jeff Smith of Numerex Corp. It was insightful to hear Jeff's reflections on the development of M2M and IoT over the past 10-15 years. The sector is exploding with innovation and development now due to the lower cost of 3G and 4G cellular modems and the creation of standards on top of which companies like Numerex can provide innovative solutions.

I led a panel session on mobile search and web browsing. The entire sector is seeing tremendous innovation with the growth of verbal input (e.g. Apple Siri, Microsoft Cortana and Google Voice) as well as visual search from innovative startups like PHIND that can find what's important to users that's within the context of the visual image rather than just what the image is presenting to the user. Of course, mobile advertising is completely different from desktop search ads and it's expected that mobile ad revenue will exceed desktop before long. Yahoo just reported generating $200 million in mobile advertising - their first time reporting significant results from mobile ads.

The final plenary panel was a reflection on enterprise mobility issues that was moderated by Tim Scannell. Debra Grunst, Doug Saunders and Eileen Bridges discussed issues ranging from security to device management and app development.

One of the highlights of the conference was the raffle of a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 by Sprint.

Here is a sequence of three slides showing various images from the breaks and social time.

There are a number of 'sea changes' happening in enterprise mobility and many of them were addressed by the speakers and panelists during the two day event. I'll be writing about each of these topics in more detail over the coming months.

Migration away from email to enterprise messaging.
Innovation and change is central to enterprise IT management.
M2M is finally happening in almost every enterprise.
BYOD is passé - enterprises define the devices employees can use - more of a CYOD strategy.
Center of enterprise computing is moving toward mobile creating 'mobile first' initiatives.
Migration toward virtualization of both network and users.
New collaboration and connectivity solutions are taking hold.
Corporate device buyback and recycling programs are now a major focus for the enterprise as it involves hundreds of millions of dollars both in the US market and worldwide.
Social networking is gaining ground inside the corporate network - intramural social networking solutions.
Security is still the most important issue: making sure that the users are who they say they are, controlling access and encrypting data are now 'table stakes' for most enterprises.

Top 5 Highlights from the Go Mobile 2014 conference

Mon, 20 Oct 2014 19:21:00 -0500

Last week, Compass Intelligence held its first conference (Go Mobile 2014 was held in Dallas, TX at the Omni Mandalay Hotel) dedicated to key interests for IT professionals and enterprises deploying, implementing, servicing, and managing mobile solutions/technology in the workplace. This can range from traditional wireless networks and mobile devices to the more advanced beacon/sensor networks, and augmented reality solutions.

The enticing session discussions and the high caliber of executive speakers, made this one of the more professional and relevant enterprise IT conferences that I have experienced and attended, so it made for a delightful event! I would have to say, the added flavor of the technology 5-minute tech demos also added that startup pitch experience, where we had the opportunity to witness 15+ emerging and relevant enterprise mobile solutions.

I wanted to share five observations and key highlights with those of you who were not able to join us.

The enterprise market today is more advanced then one would think.They are exploring a host of advanced mobile solutions including hybrid/secure cloud solutions, sensor and tracking systems (M2M technology) to enhance operations, and leaning more on advanced mobile technology outside smartphones and tablets than ever before.
The mobile enterprise is confused and overburdened with managing devices. Today, businesses of all sizes, and especially larger ones feel burdened and overwhelmed when it comes to managing smartphones and tablets. Add connected machines to the mix, and you have IT managers scrambling and leaning to their tech partners to support their overall business growth strategy.
There appears to be a back and forth going on between the enterprise and their decision to go all Android or all iOS. Enterprises are looking for simplicity, streamlining of applications and access to data, and want the same experiences across devices whether small in form factor or large. Android is providing for more open experiences and development, while the iOS operating system is answering some of the problems with the need for a seamless experience across form factors.
Mobile technology is continuing to replace wired infrastructure and legacy systems with the help of cloud technology. Businesses are not 100% ready for an open cloud environment and many of them are implementing hybrid cloud solutions as part of their mobile strategy, as they ease and find comfort in today's solutions. As cloud enables access to important corporate data in a secure environment, the use of mobile devices and networks becomes a critical component of using, analyzing, and responding to the data being made available.
The future of the mobile enterprise relies on a contextual experience.Future applications must be built and respond based on the users access, required functions, existing resources, and other pertinent data that defines who and what that enterprise user or manager is, their habits, their needs/wants, and other business attributes. The experience of that mobile application and device will continue to be refined based on contextual data around the user, and this is also the case as businesses build out applications and customer-facing business sites/apps.

There are a host of other learnings from Go Mobile 2014, but if you want to get the full experience, please attend Go Mobile 2015! Please check outwww.gomobileconference.com to learn more or follow us on twitter @gomobileconf.

AT&T Analyst Summit Wrap Up, September 2014

Fri, 03 Oct 2014 08:08:00 -0500

Remarks from Keith Robinson, Head of Wireless and Senior Consultant

AT&T touted its global SIM as is its crown jewel for M2M. This is a huge competitive advantage because several companies that are deploying M2M are implementing it on a global scale. When you look at the overall number of connections for M2M, AT&T holds a significant advantage over its competitors. This is witnessed by some of the major deals it is winning especially with companies like Maersk. The company’s global reach is playing a significant role with new business wins.

When evaluating the M2M market, several carriers have different strategic initiatives and ideas on who to partner with. Currently, AT&T is laying the foundation with key companies that offer world class leadership in the markets they serve. For example, AT&T has alliances with GE and IBM plus several more. What AT&T realized is that you cannot go it alone and not play in just a few vertical markets because the requirements in each sector vary. Furthermore, AT&T is changing the business model and it mentioned that companies need to be flexible and adaptive.

Unlike other partnerships that are primarily for press releases or just on paper, AT&T is taking a serious approach with its partners. The company is starting to win business with its partners. AT&T has assembled a strong leadership team to ensure that these partnerships are viable and that they do not trip over their partners’ feet when soliciting business. The Maersk win is a great example on how AT&T works with various ecosystem partners to provide full scalable solutions.

Although the event was geared towards the business market, the company also touched on some of the hot markets in consumer. The connected car is one segment that AT&T is expecting to see strong growth. AT&T also discussed the main reason why the company won the GM account because of the team that it brought together during the sales process. Overall, the company believes this will be a major growth engine for AT&T.

Remarks from Lavanya Rammohan, Senior Analyst in M2M

Flexibility in business models is changing the way AT&T is repositioning itself. With its impressive network on demand, Network Enabled Cloud (NEC or AT&T NetBond) and new initiative with forward thinking companies such as IBM and GE, AT&T is looking to take charge of the fast paced M2M/IoT space. AT&T NetBond solution automatically and dynamically binds MPLS network and cloud resources using API-enabled integration to the cloud computing platform, and provided a layer of security, reliability and privacy needed by most large enterprises. Network on demand and Cloud platforms are an evolving role for telecom companies and AT&T has taken a giant stride amidst its competition. The company’s Global SIM is also expected to help bring disparate sites, for example in process and discrete manufacturing industries closer in connectivity and help replication of best practices.

During the conference, AT&T’s top executive team spoke about customizable mobility solutions for connected car, smart cities, connected home, and fleet management. The company recently won the GM deal and is heading to create a strong brand and positioning within the connected car area. There is still room to grow in the connected car and connected home area depending on what the consumer really wants or understands. AT&T’s Digital Life solution and recent acquisition of DirectTV are also an opportunity to push technology solutions further into the home and leverage a new client base. AT&T has also partnered with companies in the finance sector to help elevate mobile banking apps with secure transactions and portals through AT&T’s cloud and mobility platforms.

The conversations while on a global basis, continue to focus more heavily in the US. The shift in organization and new management has also helped set clear objectives for its role as an IoT/M2M enabler and a mobility leader. The fragmented nature of the M2M/IoT market and the customer unawareness of core solutions is a challenge AT&T will face along with the rest of its peers. The era of coopetition is coming into play, where walking the fine line will be key to maintain a successful strategic relationship with companies such as IBM, GE, and the like.

Remarks from Stephanie Atkinson, CEO of Compass Intelligence

Some of the major highlights of the AT&T Analyst conference can be summed up in a few bulleted remarks, shown below:

Continued investments in the network (SOA architecture, User defined), while building an ecosystem of strategic relationships globally (IBM and GE)Innovative new offerings including Network on Demand and an expanded ecosystem with AT&T NetBond which provides highly secure, scalable, and API enabled service management for cloud enabled network connectivity to 9 ecosystem providers.
Bringing together multiple solutions for seamless, highly secure business services (i.e. Toggle and NetBond)
Focus on virtualizing the business customer or company, Opening up by building out APIs, appliance-based products while embedding into the network
Expanding into the Application or Software side of the market
Roll-out wireless local loop to provide broadband into rural areas
Key Solutions revolve around cloud, mobile, M2M/IoT, video, and Big Data