IoT Partner Program Parents Are Expanding Their Stacks Toward the Edge

In its recent analysis ranking 637 companies on their IoT service capabilities and partner programs, global tech market advisory firm, ABI Research, finds that parents of partner programs are continuing their long history of partnering with system integrators and professional services providers to enable offering full-scale end-to-end IoT solutions.

“The research shows that over 70% of the analyzed partnerships provide data-enabled solutions, such as edge intelligence, streaming analytics, advanced analytics, and data science consulting services. IoT data is increasing in value, contributing to operational insights and data-driven decision making. So far in 2020, there is an increasing number of IoT edge suppliers partnering with the partner program parents, such as AWS, Cisco, SAP, IBM, and Microsoft. This indicates a departure from the traditional cloud-centric model and greater accessibility of edge technology in the IoT ecosystem,” explains Kateryna Dubrova, Research Analyst at ABI Research.

Of the 637 companies ranked, several new IoT suppliers have been added, which has expanded the number of firms in the tracker with a very low or low IoT offering maturity grade. There is an emergence of new technologies and solutions, such as edge AI and Streaming Analytics, which are poised to bring significant value to existing infrastructure and accelerate access to operational insights across a broad range of vertical markets and application segments. ABI Research also observed an increasing number of partnerships with IoT companies targeting the self-service, drag-and-drop, and hosted services segment,” Dubrova adds.  

Traditionally, healthcare, manufacturing, and energy are the most targeted verticals within these partner program ecosystems. “But now, there is a notable increase in the number of partners offering solutions targeted to the wearables, hospitality, and smart home markets,” says Dubrova. The 2020 market data shows that 16.1% of companies now have a “B2C” or “B2B2C” component, compared to 2017’s 3.5%.

Ultimately, partnership programs have become a strategic priority for some of the dominant brands serving the IoT market. “Fundamentally, these programs allow enterprises to benefit from end-to-end solutions with greater ecosystem interoperability,” 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.