One way to look at IoT, is like an iceberg. The application and benefits of IoT are seen above the surface, but below the surface is the remaining 90 percent of the iceberg. However, an organisation leveraging IoT is not interested in what is underneath the surface and, often will look to IoT managed services to avoid being bogged down by the breadth of those complexities.
IoT managed services are those under the surface complexities that power the above the surface applications and benefits of IoT. For example, if a healthcare technology organisation is in need of handheld devices as part of an IoT healthcare solution, all the healthcare organisation wants is a device that works right out of the box.
But in order to accomplish that, the device needs to be procured, validated, configured, equipped with Mobile Device Management software, handled and kitted in a regulatory compliant warehouse and then shipped out to the organisation. Alternately, if the healthcare organisation would prefer to send these devices to several regional hospitals or numerous hospitals across the country – which further complicates the logistics end additional steps will come into play.
The path from the organisation’s needs to those needs actually being met is complex and requires a lot of steps, which is where IoT managed services can step in and manage every step in that process. This accomplishes several things:
Speed time to market: While some of these tasks could be managed internally by an organisation, it can be cumbersome, especially if a firm is not accustomed to managing those details. Whereas an IoT managed services provider will have the partner ecosystem and experience to manage these tasks more briskly, speeding the deployment of the solution.
Reduce costs: The longer time to launch is part and parcel with cost overruns, as is the risk that a step in the managed services process will be done incorrectly. Device certification, in particular, is a significant area of challenge. When a new device is introduced to a carrier network, it needs to be certified first to make sure it is operable and not harmful to the network. This process can potentially take a few months or longer if not expedited by a third-party IoT managed services provider. Costs are also reduced by outsourcing to a third party and not taking on the costs of building out an internal department or work pod dedicated to managing these crucial services.
Support management and scale: Once deployed, IoT solutions remain in motion. Devices need to be replaced, which requires device end-of-life care and recycling or disposal, and new devices need to be onboarded and integrated into the solution. If that same healthcare organisation in the earlier example continues to add hospitals where it is utilising connected devices, this is a continuous part of the solution that needs to be managed.
IoT managed services, of course, isn’t just confined to healthcare solutions, but solutions of all types. Another example is fleet management. If a fleet solutions provider wants to start selling in-vehicle video equipped with artificial intelligence to its customers, then those components need a SIM card and need to be configured to a network, as well as kitted with all the right components, chargers, adapters, and any necessary hardware for installation, along with user guides and manuals.
Alternately, an organisation might be interested in expanding its IoT solution set to serve international customers, which brings in many considerations about regulations, telecommunication standards, network connectivity and roaming differences, and other operational considerations.
An IoT managed services provider, particularly one with global expertise, can streamline the process and guide the organisation more efficiently into global expansion.
KORE is an award-winning IoT managed services provider helping customers deploy, manage, and scale through connectivity and hardware procurement, shipping and kitting, forward and reverse logistics, regulatory compliance, and international expansion. Our global footprint, carrier expertise, and broad partner ecosystem enable us to act as an extension of an organisation’s IoT engine.
KORE will host analyst James Brehm, founder of James Brehm & Associates, in a webinar on 8th November at 4pm GMT to learn more about how managed services fits into an IoT ecosystem and how vital managed services can be along every touchpoint of IoT. Register now.