INTERNET OF THINGS
IoT: A Growth Engine For The Channel
By Dylan Martin
T he door is wide open for the channel to build solu- tions for IoT applications covering important aspects like connectivity, hardware, industrial IoT, security and software. But the challenge is knowing which vendors to place their bets on. To help the channel navigate the ever-changing environment as IoT continues to be a growth engine for the channel, CRN has rounded up the 50 coolest IoT companies of the year in each of those categories. When it comes to connecting IoT devices, there is no one-size-fits- all solution, and that is reflected in the wide array of connectivity offerings available on the market. Some vendors continue to focus on building new capabilities for connecting and managing IoT devices on cellular networks, whether that’s purpose-built networks like NB-IoT or 5G, which is enabling unprecedented connection speeds and device density. At the same time, other vendors are working on offerings around wireless technologies like Wi-Fi and LoRaWAN, and there’s also a growing push for satellite-based connectivity. Meanwhile, without innovation in hardware, the world of IoT would be quite stale. Thankfully, there are plenty of vendors working on new chips, systems and other hardware that are pushing IoT forward in critical areas like processing power, connectivity and sensors. When it comes to industrial IoT, consulting firm Bain & Company reported in the fall that the low-hanging fruit of industrial IoT has been harvested. The vendors making a difference in industrial IoT need to focus on interoperability, integrated IT and operational technology, techni- cal expertise in artificial intelligence algorithms and data science. The Bain industrial IoT report included survey results that showed the number of organizations implementing proofs of concept grew 20 percent from 2018 to 2022. The number is expected to grow another 20 percent by 2026, and survey respondents reported cost reductions and revenue increases of up to 40 percent. Meanwhile, the need for better IoT security capabilities is greater
than ever before, and that isn’t expected to change any time soon. This ongoing necessity to monitor and protect against threats to a wide range of connected devices was recently underlined by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, which said in December that the country’s 16 critical infrastructure sectors “face increasing cybersecurity threats.” It’s not just individual agencies that see the problem. In early March, the Biden administration called for a greater focus on devel- oping secure IoT devices as part of its new National Cybersecurity Strategy, building on previous legislation and other government efforts addressing the issue. “Too often they have been deployed with inadequate default settings, can be difficult or impossible to patch or upgrade, or come equipped with advanced—and sometimes unnecessary—capabili- ties that enable malicious cyber activities on critical physical and digital systems,” the White House said in its strategy outline. “Re- cent IoT vulnerabilities have shown just how easily bad actors can exploit these devices to construct botnets and conduct surveillance.” Meanwhile, the companies authoring software to push the bound- aries of IoT range from tech giants like Microsoft down to startups like Memfault. A Forrester report from September said that software automation using IoT sensors and measuring maintenance schedules, customer demand, weather and other data will “offer manufacturers more granular control over their business.” Businesses are turning to IoT software to reduce energy bills, monitor work sites for noxious gases and injuries, and to improve production quality, among other use cases, according to the report. “Machine learning and AI build models of optimal operations (often in the cloud) and then monitor tens, hundreds, or even thousands of variables at the edge to quickly alert human op- erators when things are likely to stray off course,” according to the report. “In some situations, software may be authorized to make corrections without waiting for explicit permission from a watching human.”
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