Top Iot Connectivity Management Platforms Shaping Telecom’s Future

By Author: Kevin
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Why Connectivity Management is Emerging as a Strategy

The Internet of Things is redefining the role of telecom operators. Connectivity goes beyond the mobile phone and traditional subscribers. The Internet of Things connectivity management platform is increasingly important as a response to the changes taking place in the telecom industry. Connected vehicles, smart meters, manufacturing machinery, health devices, logistics assets, wearable technology, and enterprise machines are generating millions of new connections that have to be managed and secured.

This process is fueling the need for an IoT connectivity management platform that will allow telecom operators to get centralized visibility and control over highly connected device ecosystems. In other words, all SIMs, devices, and connections can be managed through one platform as opposed to managing each separately.

From an industry point of view, this is a very significant change. The IoT connection should not be marketed as yet another data plan for telecom companies. IoT connectivity can be positioned as an intelligent and business-oriented service ...
... enabled by automation, analysis, security, flexible pricing, and global connectivity. The most effective connectivity management platform is thus not only a technical purchase but also a significant part of a company’s development strategy.

IoT Market Statistics Driving the Opportunity 

This large-scale potential of IoT is making the best connectivity management software increasingly crucial. According to Research Intelligence, there will be 38.7 billion IoT connections by 2030, which clearly indicates the rapid proliferation of connected devices.

Connected technologies like NB-IoT, LTE-M, 5G, eSIM, and non-terrestrial networks are opening up new opportunities for the deployment of various use cases for telecom operators. As the number of connected devices is growing, operators are experiencing increasing complexity in managing them.

The growth of the market presents an obvious business opportunity. The presence of each of the devices that becomes connected can mean a business relationship for an operator, but only under the condition that they will be able to handle them. The IoT connectivity management platform allows laying a proper groundwork for such scaling without letting complexity rise at the same pace as the user base grows.

The future market for IoT will provide rewards to operators who can simplify connectivity management processes. The IoT connectivity management platform is going to help provide this message.

For telecom executives, the numbers clearly indicate one thing: the future IoT market belongs to the operators who can ensure that connectivity is easy to acquire, deploy, manage, and scale.

How IoT Connectivity Management Platforms Help Telecom Operators 

1. Centralized Connectivity Management: The key benefit of an IoT connectivity management platform is its centralized management capabilities. While choosing the best connectivity management platform, centralized visibility needs to become one of the requirements. SIM cards, eSIM, devices, subscriptions, connectivity profiles, usage, and network conditions are all managed centrally by operators. This brings greater efficiency and visibility into all aspects of the connected environment.

2. Faster Provisioning and Deployment: For IoT deployments that involve thousands or even millions of devices, automated provisioning ensures faster deployment and reduced workload for the operator as well as better enterprise onboarding.

3. Real-time visibility and monitoring: Increasingly, business customers demand visibility into their connected devices. A contemporary IoT connectivity management platform offers information related to the condition of the devices, data usage, network connectivity events, and abnormal activities. This will help the service providers address any problems quickly and also instill confidence in the customers regarding their IoT deployment.

4. eSIM and Remote Connectivity Management: The eSIM technology is bringing flexibility to global IoT rollouts. Remote SIM management will help to avoid physical SIM card replacement and simplify the process of device management in various market environments. An ideal connectivity management platform will be able to integrate such functionality into one consolidated operational setting.

5. Automation and Operational Efficiency: Automation is one of the most powerful value propositions available to telecom companies. A good connectivity management platform will enable automation to emerge as a business advantage rather than just a technical feature. An IoT connectivity management platform can automate the tasks of provisioning, suspension, activation, policy management, alerts, diagnostics, and many more.

6. Enhanced Customer Experience: It is important to note that technology itself is not what creates differentiation; customer experience is what it does. Enterprise customers need onboarding, usage transparency, control, and problem-solving. It is possible for the right connectivity management platform to help make this happen.

7. Monetizing Growth from IoT Connectivity: There is scope to go beyond mere connectivity in IoT. Service providers can innovate with customized industry solutions, managed services for connectivity, analytical solutions, security solutions, etc. With the ability to link connectivity information with commercial insights, there is potential for novel monetization strategies via an IoT connectivity management platform.

8. Scalability in Enterprise IoT: An architecture that is scalable will allow the operators to manage their clients as they expand their business operations. In order to evaluate different best connectivity management platform options, scalability must be considered in light of real-world enterprise growth cases. Whatever the application – from smart cities and fleet management to manufacturing, utilities, agriculture, or logistics – centralized management makes expansion easy.

9. Security and Control: An IoT deployment may create new security and compliance issues for operators to deal with. Visibility into connected devices, behavior, access control, and network traffic is needed. The best connectivity management platform may allow operators to run their connectivity business securely and, at the same time, increase trust in their IoT services among enterprises.

10. Improved Market Positioning: In terms of marketing, it is essential to differentiate. There are many telecom providers who can offer connectivity. However, only a select few are able to offer the best connectivity management platform as a smart and automated IoT solution. By positioning their solution as a connectivity management platform for IoT, telecom providers are able to change the focus of the discussion.

Thus, it is clear that the important features of the platform will not be only those related to the connectivity issue. Telecoms should consider such aspects as automation, multi-network connectivity, eSIM technology, APIs, analytics, security, scalability, user experience, billing integration, and monetization capabilities when assessing the best connectivity management platform.

Turn Connectivity into a Growth Engine 

The IoT industry is progressing towards a world where there will be billions of connected devices interacting with networks, platforms, enterprises, and customers. There is an operational issue and business opportunity for telecom operators in this case.

IoT connectivity management platform will allow telecom operators to turn this issue into a commercially feasible service. It will enable them to simplify their operation, speed up onboarding of enterprises, improve visibility, adopt eSIM, enhance customer experience, and gain access to monetization opportunities.

However, technology selection alone does not suffice. The operators have to consider the way the platform contributes to their brand promise, industry targeting, go-to-market approach, customer experience journey, and overall digital transformation strategy. Accordingly, the best connectivity management platform should be assessed not only for the capabilities but for the effectiveness of its contribution to the creation of business value for the operator.

The telecom companies that will emerge as winners are those who stop treating connectivity as a commodity and start marketing it as an intelligent platform for connected business. This is why the best connectivity management platform should balance technology, customer experience, and commercial strategy. The IoT connectivity management platform should facilitate this.

Want to make IoT connectivity your business differentiator? 

Discover how today’s 6D Technologies 'Infinity’ IoT connectivity management platform can help you connect, manage, monetize, and scale the new wave of IoT services for your telecom business. For more details, please visit https://www.6dtechnologies.com/iot/connectivity-management-platform/