INTERNET OF THINGS
Finding the connection The Internet of Things is starting to provide real benefits to businesses in many sectors. The functionality can provide users with benefits that can make a real difference to the bottom line – and brings opportunities for resellers to do likewise.
Connected devices and smart environments are increasingly becoming part of everyday life and work for many people – from smart TVs to card readers – and can help to make businesses more efficient and profitable. Unsurprisingly, the Internet of Things (IoT) market in the UK is growing quickly – it is estimated that it will grow by $21.8 billion from 2021 to 206 at 11.80% CAGR – fuelled by demand for things like cloud computing and RFID enabled devices. This is providing resellers with plenty of opportunities, says Debrup Ghosh, senior product manager at Synopsys Software Integrity Group. “The amount of IoT solutions that have emerged in recent years have flooded the market,” he says. “As a result, customers are now looking at resellers as trusted advisories who can help them select IoT solutions that are secure, reliable and, above all, solves their business problem. “Customers are generally aware that embedding IoT into their operations will help them become more secure, efficient and productive. However, as is often the case when dealing with competing priorities and point IoT solutions, they are not able to procure the right end-to-end solution for their business. “Resellers have a unique value proposition; customers trust them, and they can also implement a ‘systems approach’, that integrates several IoT products into an end-to- end solution that’s tailored to their customer’s needs. The key is to focus on solving the right customer problem, and they are finding the right IoT products for the right use cases to make the entire solution enterprise ready.” Elevating offerings The growth in IoT presents opportunities not just for new and recurring revenue streams for resellers but also to differentiate and elevate their offerings. “IoT solutions allow resellers to lead with innovation which can help deliver more value to their existing customers alongside opportunities to win net- new business to grow their customer base,”
says Bhavesh Patel, senior executive IoT and IA – Solutions and Professional Services, at Ingram Micro. “IoT also lends itself to an eco-system of new value-add wrap around services with recurring revenue, especially as the market transitions from project-based delivery to managed services.” He adds that as the rate of IoT adoption increases, end customers are becoming increasingly aware of IoT solutions and their benefits, especially in verticals like smart offices and healthcare. “We are also beginning to see customers actively seek out IoT solutions that they have seen implemented elsewhere. However, we are also seeing that the end customer is often not aware that their incumbent reseller can provide such IoT solutions, which leads them to approach other providers. It is therefore critical for resellers to educate their customers about their IoT offerings to not lose out on this business. “Although it is important for resellers to educate their customers on IoT solutions at a high level, they should steer away from focusing too much on the solution or technology itself. Instead, the focus of the conversation should be around the customer’s business problems and challenges that can be addressed with IoT solutions. This should then be followed by a clear ROI analysis to demonstrate the benefits in the form of a measurable value where possible.”
Debrup Ghosh senior product manager
synopsys.com
Bhavesh Patel, senior executive IoT and IA – Solutions and Professional Services
uk-new.ingrammicro.com
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