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IoTMarket Place and its Potential Impact on Increasing Sales
Several companies (Aeris, PTC/Thingworx,Alcatel Lucent,andothers) are workingon ordevelopedan
Internetof Things (IoT) marketplace platform. The platformenablesoperatorsandthirdparty
companiestoquicklydevelopandlaunchamarketplace forIoTsolutions.Featuresincludecustom
layoutsandbranding,partnerportal,productlistings,detailedproductfeaturesandmarketing
information,billing,directorder,shipping,contactsandrelatedservices.The platformproductizesa
Marketplace tool andreducesthe time andcost that a companywouldhave toinvesttobuildthis
capabilityinthe traditional ITmodel.It alsosimplifiesthe investmentrequiredtostarta marketplace
throughvariouslicensing andsupportmodels. The Marketplace platformsimplifiesacompany’sability
to launcha marketplace similartoApplicationEnablementPlatform(AEP) simplifiesacompany’sability
to developIoTapplications.
The Market Place is an online marketforBusinesstoBusiness IoTsolutionswhere servicesandproducts
can be easily foundand purchaseddirectlyfrommultipleproviders. Italsoincludes solutionfinder
capabilitiestoenable searchforvariouscategoriesof solutions aswell aspartneroffersforthirdparty
services. The IoTmarketplace is similarinconcepttoAmazonor Alibabaforconsumerproducts. The
difference withthe IoTmarketplace andconsumermarketplace is the complexityof the solutions. IoT
solutionsmay require hardware,connectivity,maintenance,supportandabilitytomanage connectivity
as needed aswell assystemintegration intoexistingenterprisesystems. Some levelof customization
may alsobe neededtomeetspecificbusinessrequirements. IoTSolutionsinclude manycomponents
providedbyanecosystemof partnerswhichalsoaddsto the complexity.
The marketplace simplifiesaccesstoproviders, solutions,componentsas well asprovides insightinto
variousoptionsavailable. Marketplace offersaguidedtourof potential solutions andastructure to
assistbusinessestoresolve questionsand address concerns.A marketplace backedbya reliable brand
and organizationprovidespartnersandcustomerease of mindandsome level of securityinpurchasing
IoT solutions.
What types of Solutions can be included in the marketplace?
Solutionsinthe marketplace range fromsimple plugandplayoptions suchasa Smart thermometeror
healthmonitoringdevicestocomplex layeredsolutions.One exampleof acomplex layeredsolutionis
the Logisticssolutionwith geographical informationsystem(GIS) capabilityintegratedinto a
transportation managementsystem(TMS) such as Oracle TMS. Simple solutions are alreadyfully
integratedwhilecomplex solutionrequireadditional supportandintegration
The keyto a successful marketplace will be the abilitytoaggregate all of the componentsrequiredto
successfullydeploythe completesolution.Thiswill include:
 Downloadable applicationfordatavisualization
 Multiple provideroptions
 The abilitytosecure multi-national connectivity (SIMand data plans)

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 Integrationserviceswhere the currentversionof the applicationneedsto be customizedor
extendedtomeetthe specificuse case
 Plugn playoptionforease of use
 Supportservicesoptionsforon-going maintenance
 List of all requiredhardware withthe optiontopurchase directlythroughthe marketplace
 Abilitytopurchase requiredhardwareinrequiredquantitywiththe pushof abutton
 Multi-language supportandself-service capabilitytochange language asneeded
Who benefits from the market place?
IoT solutioncanbe complex andprovidersare oftennewcomerstothe market.Customerswanta
reliable companywhowill be aroundonce theyinvestinasolution. Asaresult,Operatorsare well
positionedtoofferthe marketplace since theyhave name recognitionandtrust.Theyalso have the
infrastructure inplace suchas the network,billingsystems,supportcentersandretail outlets. Retail
outletscanbe leveragedtodistribute itemstopotentialcustomers. Operatorscanalsoleverage their
online distributionsystems.
Market Place can also be offered throughthirdpartyindependentcompanies. Manycompanies
offeringIoTsolutionstoday alignwithmobile operatorsforconnectivityinlocal markets. Theycanalso
alignwithcompanies likeAeris,Kore (E2EIoT providers),Telefonicaandothersforglobal connectivity
Deutsche Telekom(DT) isone operatorwhichcurrentlyoffersamarketplace.DT’smarketplace isself-
service channel whichconnectsbusinesscustomerswiththe IoTmarketplace.Servicesofferedinclude:
 Hardware - modules, terminals, sensors and gateways
 Software – tracking, monitoring and analytics
 Connectivity solutions – Multi-SIM, with roaming options
 Services - Tools, Training and Certification
Operators like Deutsche Telekom offers end to end solution which includes all required hardware,
software,cloud,andsystemintegrationrequired for a turnkey solution. The solution can be sold in an
OPEX model (subscriber pays a monthly recurring cost) for the solution and the operator or partner
provides a simple to access application on web-enabled device. The alternative is the capex model
where the customer pays for the hardware and application in a lump sum payment and pay recurring
cost for cloud, connectivity and other services.
Benefits to the Operator
The market place can assistoperatorsinsignificantlyboostingIoTrevenue byenablingthem to share all
relatedservicesversusthe currentstate whichlimitsthemto connection revenue. Operators can share
inthe hardware,applicationandservicesrevenue by taking a percentage of sales executed through its
platform. The concept is similar to the Play Store model where the operators or store provider takes
30% of the revenue for the applications sold while the provider gets 70%. In the consumer space,
Amazon gets 15% to 20% of each items sold through its site. Loten, Angus and Janofsky, Adam ( 2015,
January 14) Sellers Need Amazon, but at What Price. Wall Street Journal P. B4. Retrieved

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formhttp://www.wsj.com/articles/sellers-need-amazon-but-at-what-cost-1421278220 Each operator
will deploy a business model which aligns with the market and their internal margin requirements.
Benefits to the Hardware Provider
Many hardware providers are faced with the challenge of selling just the equipment without a
comprehensive solution. The market place provides hardware OEMs another sales channel since their
hardware can be packaged with applications for a complete offer. Hardware OEMs can expose their
device APIs for ease of integration by application developers. The market place can also be used as a
venue to promote their unique features and capabilities as well as target specific verticals.
New Market Opportunity for Legacy Industries, Developers and New Startups
Non-traditional IT companies like General Motors (GM) can also leverage the market place to offer
services to wider customer-base and to develop new offers. For example, GMcan sell data collected
fromits smart cars to developerstocreate new services.Other companies withlarge amountsof data in
Oil and Gas, Agriculture or other businesses can leverage the market place to offer their verticalized
services to targeted and new customers. They can offer APIs to their data and generate new revenue
streams from these businesses. They can also package and aggregate their products to reach specific
target segments. This can provide a new channel to distribute their products and services through
service warranties,new service modelsandproduct life cycle management. Traditional companies like
Chevronor BT can gain newbusinessbyexposingtheirvastdatabasesto developers who can aggregate
this information with current data to make new offers in the market place.
Entrepreneursanddeveloperswithnewproductsand services can leverage the market place to launch
their products and reach specific target customers. They can also shop for new data sources to build
solutions around.
System Integration Services:
Each solutionofferedinthe marketplace shouldindicatewhetherthe offeriscompletelyplugandplay
or if systemintegrationisrequired. If systemintegrationisrequired,thenitshouldlistthe approximate
numberof hoursrequired.Forexample,solutionx will be require 5hoursof SIwork to complete.The n
there couldbe a listof SIoptionsandproviders aswell asapproximate rate andcontact information.
Each SI will have acustomerrating systemtoindicate the levelof satisfactionfrompastcustomers.The
ratingwouldindicate pastcustomerexperience withthisproviderandSI.A systemshouldbe inplace to
independentlyvalidateratingstoensure the overall successof the program.
SystemIntegrationservicescanbe offeredinsimple,definedpackages.Eachsolutionwhichrequires
systemintegration shouldlistlevel of effortintermsof numberof hoursrequiredtointegrate the
differentcomponentsandoverall ITintegrationhours.Thiswouldenable the customertohave insight
intothe overall solutioncostbefore investing.
Requirements for Marketplace Success:
Marketplace platforms are still in a nascent stage. Providers such as Aeris, PTC/Thingworx and Alcatel
Lucentwill needtobe more aggressive insellingthe valueto operators. Even though newer companies

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may be more agile and creative, they lack the brand recognition and trust to quickly grow the market
place.Many operatorsalreadyhave asolutionfinderandothermechanismsinplace buttheylack a true
marketplace where business customers around the globe can easily purchase IoT solutions offered in
the market.
Solution Finder pages offered by many operators simply provide contacts for partners offering the
solution and some hardware related content. They lack the simplification and details needed to drive
sales. The sites are often difficult to navigate and lack the ability for direct purchase from the site. In
addition, they add to the complexity of finding an IoT solution.
A successful market place will be easy to navigate, include rich product visuals, multiple language
options, tabs with key features, technical details, and provider information. It will include multiple
paymentandshipmentoffers,andinclude afeedbackmechanismwhichcanbe used to rate the various
partners and offers. It will enable direct access to providers to expedite problem resolution. Market
place should also provide buyers with an indication of the complexity of the solution and different
purchasingmodelsbasedonthe solution complexity. For example, Plug and Play solution would state
that no system integration is required. More complex solution would suggest a number of system
integration work required before the solution may be deployed in production environment.
The true value of the marketplace is itsabilitytoincrease sales for its partners and increase loyalty and
trust of its customers resulting in repeat sales and strong margins for the ecosystem of partners.