White Paper - M2M platforms are re-cast for the age of the ‘Internet of Things’

As the industry evolves from its vertical M2M heritage to a horizontal Internet of Things, the requirements for software platforms are evolving.  A new White Paper from Machina Research examines the implications of this fundamental shift.

The M2M platforms space is evolving fast and in recent years a range of different kinds of M2M platforms have emerged to assist with the development and deployment of M2M applications. However, the industry is now at a tipping point, where the old ‘stove-pipe’ M2M application approach is giving way to a more integrated approach to application development which draws from a wider range of data sources (including M2M connected devices of different types and also corporate and other IT systems) and stitches these together with more sophisticated applications.

A new White Paper published today by Machina Research, the leading providers of strategic market intelligence on the M2M, IoT and Big Data markets, explores how the M2M platforms space evolved to the current day status and identifies the need for a new kind of platform together with the ideal functionality of such platforms.

Commenting on the findings, author Jim Morrish said: “This new, more sophisticated approach to application development dictates a need for a new, more sophisticated form of supporting platform. In short, ‘M2M/IoT Application Platforms’ represent M2M platforms re-cast for the age of the Internet of Things.”

The M2M/IoT Application Platform provides the ‘glue’ that intermediates between application developers, M2M connected devices and a range of niche and specialised M2M platforms and wider enterprise IT systems. Referring to the dynamics of this new M2M/IoT world, Morrish commented: “In the world of the M2M/IoT Application Platform, the application developer is king.”

The White Paper identifies a range of leading actors which can together be taken to represent an emerging best-practice in this space. Companies discussed within the White Paper include: Abo Data, Aeris Communications, Bosch Software Innovation, Cumulocity, Device Insight, Digi, Eurotech, ProSyst, SAP, SeeControl, ThingWorx, Tridium, and Xively.

Download the White Paper here.