IoT Potential is as Limitless as its Platform

According to most analyst estimates, some 75-80 billion connected devices are expected by 2030 – that is 7-8 connected devices per human being. New offerings will be driven by advancements in IoT technologies such as eSIM, which not only massively streamlines manufacturing and logistics’ processes for global or multi-national deployments, it ensures affordable, local coverage for devices out of the box.

With the rapid adoption of IoT, the possibilities of what an organization can build is limited only by its imagination and the platform it uses. While imagination is the responsibility of the enterprise, IoT service providers are developing platforms to facilitate the big ideas of today and tomorrow.

A forward thinking IoT platform is designed with an infrastructure that goes above and beyond just connectivity management to include features such as network services, security management services, and enterprise and cloud applications. It should be both open and scalable.  Organizations should benefit from open API access that support agnostic application enablement and rapid delivery of new applications, providing unparalleled levels of flexibility with no need to ever modify source code. These platforms need a scalable, future-proofed foundation to grow, manage, and meet increased demand.

In addition, forward-looking platforms should be powered by multiple modular “technology engines” that each play a unique role in facilitating the next generation of services. To best serve the unique needs of each organization, engine functionalities should include:

• Secure, universal data processing, integration, and workflow capabilities to connect network providers to enterprise applications, as well as real-time billing and rating functionalities.
• Enablement of pre-provisioned connectivity for traditional SIMs, eSIMs, and unlicensed spectrum options to provide total flexibility.
• Powerful data management capabilities to harness all levels of sensor data, metadata, and usage data.
• Seamless and robust API integrations to improve response times, eliminate costly provisioning errors, and decrease total cost of ownership.

The micro-services architecture of tomorrow’s IoT platforms will also facilitate the individual deployment of each engine. For example, the aforementioned integration and workflow engine will be able to deliver a normalized and templatized interface to cellular carrier platforms, which is a key component of managing switchable eSIM profile provisioning. This functionality would also help organizations address “bring-your-own-carrier” scenarios as a licensed software deployment. Another example would be using a network intelligence engine to understand device behavior from network metadata.

Fundamentally, the modular foundation of tomorrow’s IoT platforms should be powered by modern, world-class technologies that are the best fit for the function each engine delivers. This gives organizations the advantage of knowing that they are able to confidently choose the engines and services/APIs they need, and enables the addition of features and functions at will over time, without fear of technology obsolescence or scalability issues.

To meet the changing needs of organizations utilizing the power of IoT, tomorrow’s platform should empower organizations to simplify IoT complexities and streamline solution deployments, while ultimately providing a “platform” for innovation and growth, allowing enterprises to build and deploy their own unique applications and services more quickly, and efficiently, and at a fraction of the cost.