By Anton Le Saux, Head of Connectivity and Partner Sales at O2 Telefónica UK: As M2M solutions develop and improve and customers become clearer about exactly what they want, the M2M evolution is gaining momentum.
The market isn't seeing product growth alone, but more of an organic development that is touching more parts of every business and putting pressure on providers to widen their solutions.
This is great news for M2M providers, but also introduces short-term challenges. To achieve maximum impact from an M2M installation the best route is an end-to-end solution. Being a provider of smart connectivity is great, but customers are now looking for end-to-end capability, including connectivity, devices, solution and managed services in a single package. As customers become better educated, their requirements become more specific and all-encompassing, so end-to-end services are in demand.
Most analysts predicted this evolution with providers moving from pure managed connectivity to aggregated solutions, and potentially even further into fully integrated M2M services providers. It is an organic progression, but development rates will vary and some providers will struggle to keep up.
Few providers are in a position to offer a genuinely end-to-end, fully integrated system. So it makes sense for businesses to come together in a partner ecosystem to broaden their offering and extend their reach. This is why the M2M evolution is taking the shape of partnerships rather than product development alone. It gives providers an opportunity to quickly reach new customers rather than remaining dependent on the more time consuming process of product expansion.
For more information emailanton.lesaux@telefonica.com or visit partnersdigital.telefonica.com