Mumbai: Internet of Things (IoT) is now not a new concept in the industry. Decision makers of different Industry verticals are exploring various ways to explore the potentials of IoT to enhance business productivity. According to the MarketsandMarkets forecasts the Internet of Things market size to grow from USD 157.05 Billion in 2016 to USD 661.74 Billion by 2021, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 33.3 percent.
Developed economies have adopted IoT in a big way, however, in India it is still at a nascent phase but growing at a steady pace. The latest report by NASSCOM reveals that Indian IoT market is set to grow to USD 15 billion by 2020 from the current USD 5.6 billion.
Indian enterprises are heavily leveraging disruptive technologies such as IoT, Analytics, AI etc. to diversify their revenue stream. Like industry verticals, IoT has also opened up new ways of business for channel partners, where they can not only find the business scale and profit, but a long term sustainability.
Though big IoT automation projects are largely driven by companies, channel partners can play a pivotal role in the deployment of the infrastructure of ‘connected devices’.
We have listed out some of the key industry sectors, where channel partners can establish their niche for IoT and can find practical ways to make money off of connected devices.
Agriculture & Primary Industries
Nobody imagined the effective use of disruptive technologies in the space of agriculture 10 years before. But now, thanks to the digital revolution, farmers are leveraging on digital tools to make farming business smart and profitable. The government has launched a slew of digital initiatives for farmers such as an agri app to keep them updated on latest technological innovations in the space of farming. IoT can take the agriculture to the next level where the infrastructure of agri-machinery will be controlled and automated through the internet. This will be the biggest boon for farmers where they can leverage on the technology to plow, sow, reap and experiment a lot of things on their farm. Connected devices can bring a high level of efficiency in the process and minimize the wastage, resulting in more profits for farmers.
Farmers can even get connected to the wholesale markets and even with the hotels for direct trade. They can evaluate demand, prices, availability and stipulated time for delivery on the dashboards. Since, farmers will get updates on market trends in real time, it will also help to oust the middle men in the trading chain to get right prices of their farm products. Not only farming, IoT can be beneficial in other primary industries which can automate work processes to bring higher efficiency. IT big wings have not yet reached to the interiors of the country, hence, partners as their extended sales arm can tie up with farmers to deploy IoT solutions lay the foundation of smart and hi-tech farming.
Warehousing & Storage
Despite having ample natural resources, the poor warehousing and storage facilities leads wastage of tons of food products. Public warehousing and storage industry can use IoT in a bog way to optimize the resources and avoid wastage due to improper handling of products.
The industry can leverage automation such as industrial robots to minimize the involvement of human. In the warehouse, vehicle management systems installed on forklifts, tow tractors and industrial trucks can improve upon resource allocation and safety standards. Sensors built into these vehicles can lock out unauthorized drivers and track activity such as speeds and impacts.
The data driven approach can help the warehouse manager not only track the inventory, but analyze trends of purchases, demand for specific products and produce more accurate forecasts. Partners can help the warehouse managers analyze the data in a real time and make a right decision making. Partners in association with the supply chain managers can create an action plan for IoT implementation and also can provide customized solutions as per the requirements of the industry.
Smart Cities & Safe Cities
Almost all the IT big wings are betting big in the smart cities and safe city projects, but the channel partners are the actual front runners in such projects who are involved in the actual deployment of the solutions. Smart city projects are the next big growth area for channel partners where large SIs, solution providers, telecom service providers and even small VARs can play a significant role. According to Navigant Research, the global smart city technology market is expected to be worth approximately USD 27.5 billion annually by 2023, compared to USD 12.1 billion in 2016. Partners can leverage their domain expertise in the space of IoT security, data analytics, automation and so on. Similarly, partners in surveillance industry can also find this space a goldmine to generate additional revenues for the government. Mumbai based SI Allied Digital Services recently concluded the Pune safe city project, where the company deployed CCTV solutions at the strategic points in Pune. Like Allied Digital, many other small and large SIs engage in such projects and adding value to the ambitious initiatives.
Automotive
Autonomous cars or driverless cars are already a reality in the developed countries, but in India it is yet to hit the roads. The automotive industry has been always at the forefront of using modern technologies such as industrial robotics. But now the industry is moving towards innovation where they seek intelligent solutions to build next generation automotive solutions. Resellers have long been making money off of the automotive industry. But now with the changing industry dynamics, partners will require to be more innovative in their solution offerings.
While the sector is rapidly moving towards the connected car revolution, there are millions of cars on the road which are yet to bring on a digital platform. Here is an enormous opportunity for partners to upgrade them into autonomous cars. Gartner forecasts that about one in five vehicles on the road worldwide will have some form of wireless network connection by 2020, amounting to more than 250 million connected vehicles. Here is an immense opportunity for channel partners you are yet to explore this field.
The list does not end here. There are many other industry verticals such as healthcare, manufacturing, hospitality etc. where channel partners can explore with IoT solutions in the days to come.