Channel Tools has a strategic partnership with Global IoT Connectivity vendor, Thingstream. The partnership will allow Channel Tools to grow its IOT Solutions business by providing Thingstream enabled IOT solutions with low power, low cost IoT device connectivity. This also includes the integration of Thingstream’s Data Flow Manager into the Channel Tools Integrit Platform to allow businesses to gain easy actionable insights.
Kewal Gupta, CEO of Mobile and IoT at Channel Tools said “We are constantly innovating on the technology edge and as demand grows for IoT connected solutions we believe Thingstream makes a great addition to our mission to create low cost, low power, globally connected IoT solutions providing businesses with the technology and insights they need to remain agile in a commercially dynamic business environment. By also integrating into our Mobile Engagement Platform we also see this as a part of our mission to create “one app to rule them all”
By working with Thingstream, Channel Tools now has access to an innovative global IoT connectivity network and a cloud based data management system designed to allow enterprises to easily implement successful IoT strategies, he says.
Alex Sewell, Partner Development Director EMEA at Thingstream said, “The Internet of Things global market is developing rapidly with more and more companies wanting to monitor the condition and location of their connected products, assets and devices. However, for effective global, low power, IoT device network coverage, the options are limited. Thingstream provides a global connectivity solution for Internet of Things applications that effectively addresses these challenges”.
The IoT marketplace is evolving at a pace. No longer are IoT Suppliers and Integrators supporting free of charge proof of concepts “on a promise” for a purchase order, Kewal Gupta tells IT Europa.
For the most part, the common use cases are established typically falling into categories such as predictive maintenance, asset tracking, utilisation monitoring or digital signage.The transition in thinking has now shifted more directly into proof of value exercises around these established use cases, with many customers tackling more core concepts around barriers to value realization presented through business culture, process or back office misalignment, he says.
“Let’s consider a few verticals. When we look at the obvious things as consumers, retailers have refined the art of mapping the user journey; not just through their web content, but also in their brick and mortar outlets through blend computer vision, Bluetooth beacons and mobile app interactions. These insights deliver hyper-contextual tailored experiences back into our web experience, but also in the real world through contextual digital signage or location-based push notifications on mobile devices. Our data is being used to bring us back into the high street.”
For more on IoT and the channel approach to IoT, see the IT Europa Predictions 2020 special feature in January 2020
