Beyond the Data Service Provider

The most widely used applications in machine-to-machine will be pervasive commerce, remote monitoring and control of machines and systems, and tracking, communicating with, and controlling mobile assets.

Pervasive Commerce:

E-commerce applications will continue to expand, leveraging both wire line and wireless backhaul. However, wireless technology will drive exponential growth by providing flexibility, portability, and direct customer access. Unmanned transactions will expand, driven by payment processing and real-time inventory management. The customer? needs will be more closely managed, understood, and acted upon as applications become more integrated. Dynamic advertising and content delivery will also be increasingly deployed to simplify the purchasing decision, the transaction itself, and the delivery of goods and services to the customer.

Remote Monitoring and Control:

Remote monitoring and control of machines and systems span both vertical and horizontal markets and will continue to drive growth across all sectors including industrial, commercial, and consumer. Real-time data will facilitate operational efficiencies, safety, security, and an enhanced product for the end user. Deployments will become more highly integrated and automated, creating pervasive adoption and driving the need for intelligence on both ends of the applications.

Tracking and Controlling Assets:

Tracking, communicating with, and controlling mobile assets will continue to see significant growth across many verticals. Intelligent dispatching and deployment of mobile workers will continue to add efficiencies that directly contribute to the corporate bottom-line. Improvements to supply-chain management derived from real-time inventory and location data will shorten the overall cycle, reduce inventory risks, automate resource planning, and reduce operational costs for the entire ecosystem.

M2M will have major effects and positive influences on society including improved delivery of good and services, enhanced public safety, security and disaster recovery, and a positive impact on the environment.

M2M enhances efficiency throughout the supply chain and will improve the delivery of goods and services and drive costs down. Automated decisions and data from the network will drive optimization.

M2M enhances public safety by providing public sector workers (e.g. emergency responders) access to data for better decision-making. Wide-area wireless networking is critical for these applications given the mobility element. M2M solutions provide portability and reliability benefits in security and disaster recovery applications as well.

The solution is complex and has many core components, including machines, management/control intelligence, communications devices, communications services, machine-network management services, and host applications. As higher levels of integration are required, the deployment path must be simplified for mass adoption to occur. End-to-end intelligence will facilitate these solutions, going beyond the application itself to include installation, management, maintenance, and control of unmanned and remotely deployed device networks.

With no single entity providing an entire M2M solution, partnerships must run deep, driving more creative collaborations and innovative business models such as OEM (original-equipment manufacturer), vertical integration, extensive joint development, and technology licensing.

Reliable, secure, and economical communication services are critical to adoption, which provides an opportunity for targeted service MVNOs (mobile virtual network operators) and resellers. To reduce upfront capital expenditures, solution providers will increasingly provide leased equipment and communications services as part of long-term targeted customer engagements. All of these factors will help create opportunities in the value-ecosystem beyond just the data service provider.