Development Tools: a key driver for the M2M market take-off

Development Tools: a key driver for the M2M market take-off Manuel NAU M2M Product Marketing Manager

M2M applications as of today

So far, M2M applications have been mostly driven by system integrators and machine manufacturers with a rather hardware type of expertise.

They have delivered the first solutions to the market, but sometimes revealing limited features, limited scalability and limited integration with the enterprise resources (i.e with the information system and mobile access terminals).

Market situation today: mostly a collection of small to mid scale deployments…

Maturity level of M2M applications

Many M2M systems deployed today rely on a simple solution : data collection and exchange with a remote PC running a simple device management application but with no link to the business applications and no end-to-end automation .

Most of these solutions are not delivering the full possible benefits of an M2M infrastructure .

Typical limitations of existing M2M applications

SMS only

Many M2M applications are still using SMS even when GPRS is more efficient and cost-effective

1 way GPRS

Most applications are using 1 way GPRS only (Mobile Originated GPRS connection triggered by SMS) when « full-duplex » GPRS would be more efficient

Limited integration with the IT infrastructure

Few solutions deployed offer a tight connection to the IT system (DataBases, ERP, CRM) to maximize the use of data collected

Limited end-to-end automation

Few applications support an end-to-end automatic process e.g with automatic billing, automatic report generation, workflow management, etc

Limited support of access terminals

Although the technology allows various types of access terminals to be supported (including fixed and mobile phones), many M2M applications still only support PCs (or eventually wireless PDAs) to access the information

This is because developing performant end-to-end solutions is somewhat complex !

Structure of an efficient end-to-end M2M solution Machines Com° Module (IP) Protocol Secure Application Server Interface Enterprise Resources Central Application Mobile Operator M2M Gateway Connection Layer Embedded Application Links to IT system Terminal specific user interface

A few typical issues and challenges faced by M2M developers

Achieve reliable embedded programming on a specific software platform, dealing with limited hardware resources (CPU and memory)*

Properly manage the available communication bearers (GPRS, SMS…): bearer setup, disconnection & fallback management,…

Minimize the cellular traffic

Develop an industrial-grade web application

Setup an efficient & secure IT/telecom architecture (APN)

Deal with (changing) GPRS IP@ at the remote equipments

Link the solution to the enterprise resources (databases, business applications, mobile terminals)

Test the application under severe conditions

Properly deploy : install and setup all IT infrastructure components (servers, databases, network connections, backups…)

Keep the solution up and running 24/7

*In this analysis, the embedded M2M application is assumed to be running into the communication module, thus offering enhanced flexibility and optimizing the total cost of the solution

Typical skills required for M2M

When building-up a complete M2M solution, some critical skills are needed to link all the elements and get the most value from the solution:

Hardware (integration of a communication module)

Embedded software

Telecom architecture

Web application development

IT integration

 It is generally difficult for SMEs to cover the full spectrum of required competencies and be efficient in all those disciplines

Existing tools for M2M software development

 Embedded software :

SDKs provided by: communication modules vendors, embedded OS suppliers, software editors (Microsoft, Borland…)

 But they lack M2M specific features and components to ease development: high-level programming interfaces, pre-packaged M2M software components, automatic code generation, etc

 Web application :

Tools available from software editors: Borland JBuilder, Sun Java Studio Creator, IBM WSAD, BEA WebLogic Workshop, MS Visual Studio .Net…

 But they are generic development tools and they lack M2M specific features and components to ease development: data model creation wizard, automatic web site generation from a logical description, communication management tools (SMS server, IP@ monitoring...), etc

Achieving a complete M2M solution using standard programming tools remains a challenge !

New tools for M2M application developers

New tools specifically designed for M2M can significantly reduce the complexity of developing an M2M solution.

Anyware Technologies is releasing M2M Developer Suite , the first software development environment (IDE) dedicated to M2M .

M2M Developer Suite allows the development of end-to-end M2M applications:

Embedded application (running in the remote equipment)

Device management (web) application with all necessary links with middleware, data bases and business applications

It is based on a full graphical programming approach therefore greatly reducing the complexity of achieving M2M solutions.

A powerful yet easy-to-use software development environment to rapidly develop competitive end-to-end M2M applications

One tool, a complete solution Device Connection Studio + Server Application Studio Central (web) Application Embedded Application 

Valuable innovative features Data model creation wizards to define the application elements and applicative logic via a graphical interface Automatic generation of optimized code for a target platform (java or native) Configuration assistant to setup the communication management (including fallback) Set of ready-to-use application components: -Embedded web server -Library of industry protocols (Modbus…) -Application templates, user-interface templates, widgets… Generation of an end-to-end solution including links to IT system Data compression to minimize cellular traffic Compatible with: SIEMENS TC45 and TC65 (more to come)

In-house Development: use the right tools… Level of skills needed to achieve an M2M solution Communication module + traditional programming approach + standard development tools  Development efforts & costs  Time 2 Market  Project Dead Line  n

Opportunity of:

Quicker & higher market penetration

Quicker ROI

Additional revenues & profits

Risks of:

Opportunity window missed

Project cancelled

Late ROI

Communication module +

Conclusion: Development tools as market acceleration factors

The maturity of a market is often reflected by the level of the development tools available for this market:

The more advanced and easy-to-use the tools are, the quicker innovative solutions get to the market.

Many industries (like the PC industry) have already experience this rule.

As far as M2M is concerned, this evolution (revolution?) is just about to happen with a new generation of fully graphical development tools, lowering the entry-barriers and allowing more developers to unleash their creativity.