IoT partner program parents are building-up their IoT stacks

5 March 2020, LONDON, UK: In its recent analysis ranking 605 companies on their IoT service capabilities and partner programs, global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research, finds that partner programs are increasingly turning to system integrators and professional services providers, enabling vendors to leverage full scale end-to-end IoT solutions.

“The data also shows that an increasing number of analytics vendors are providing professional services for advanced analytics to partner program parents, such as AWS, Cisco, Dell, IBM, Intel, Kepware, and Microsoft. This indicates a departure from data discovery and a move to data utilization in the IoT ecosystem,” says Kateryna Dubrova, Research Analyst at ABI Research.

Of the 605 companies analyzed, more than half have partnerships with developers providing big data, advanced analytics, and analytics services. “IoT data is increasing in value, where operational insights are enabling data driven-decision making. The demand for understanding and monetizing data is pushing vendors to expand their partnership programs to system integrators and analytics software developers. Partner program parents including Oracle, PTC/ThingWorx, Salesforce.com, and SAP are aligned in that increasing technology interoperability will enable them to create a wider and more compatible IoT ecosystem,” explains Dubrova.

Interestingly in 2019, 62% of the 605 enterprises received a high or very high IoT offering maturity grade. “IoT solutions are being adopted by a great breath of vertical and application segments. ABI Research also observed an increasing amount of partnerships with IoT companies targeting the end-consumer,” she adds.

Traditionally, healthcare, manufacturing, and energy applications are the most targeted verticals within these partner program ecosystems. “But now, a significant spike in end user demand is driving a notable increase in the number of partners offering solutions targeted to the wearables, hospitality, and smart home markets,” says Dubrova. The 2019 market data shows 8.4% of companies now have a “B2C” component, compared to 2017’s 3.5%.

Ultimately, partnership programs have become a strategic priority for top vendors. “It enables them to capitalize on emerging market opportunities coming from new technologies and ensures their dominance in maturing markets. At the same time, enterprises are benefiting from end-to-end solutions with greater ecosystem interoperability - and avoiding vendor lock-in.” Dubrova concludes.

These findings are from ABI Research’s SI/VAR and Partner Program IoT Ecosystem market data report. This report is part of the company’s M2M, IoT, & IoE research service, which includes research, data, and analyst insights. Market Data spreadsheets are composed of in-depth data, market share analysis, and highly segmented, service-specific forecasts to provide detailed insight where opportunities lie.