Attributed to Lee Hickin, IoT Business Group Lead, Microsoft Australia
When you get events like today’s announcement of the key strategic relationships Microsoft has formed with Partners to drive adoption of the Internet of Things (IoT), it’s incredibly satisfying to realise that you are in some small way living through history.
Each of the Partners selected, BizData, CDM, Empired, Ignia, Mexia, Oakton, MOQDigital, RAMP RFID & Readify, is already working with clients in vertical markets including manufacturing, retail, health and defence. They are co-developing client solutions around asset management, smart building facilities, remote monitoring and predicative maintenance to create an ecosystem which integrates devices, connectivity and analytics through a cloud platform.
In other words, they are doing things that were unimaginable – or so costly as to be prohibitive to all but the richest organisations – just a few short years ago. And the innovation that IoT fosters shows that the best is yet to come.
There has been a fundamental shift in enterprise models towards IoT. As Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Microsoft’s Cloud + Enterprise Division, said recently: “We live in a connected world, and the intelligent cloud is powering it all. As data and devices continue to proliferate, there is vast opportunity for businesses to tap into their data to make their applications more intelligent.”
Microsoft’s IoT partners were selected because they had shown at an early stage that they understood the depth of the transformation that is being wrought by the acceleration of IoT, and by the level of engagement they have in providing IoT solutions for clients.
They are able to make the business adjustments necessary to take advantage of the shift in Enterprise requirements and industrial IoT, and through their deep understanding of Microsoft are able to identify, initiate and manage innovation to ensure that it is deployed through solutions built for scale and agility down the track.
For our part, Microsoft is making a heavy investment in the Partners to ensure success in the rapidly growing IoT market, which is in addition to our recently announced launch of Azure IoT Suite which enables rapid scalability through preconfigured solutions and delivery through the Microsoft Partner network.
To help them build successful IoT practices, we’re offering a technical and sales course to ensure the Partners are leveraged through the end-to-end process of the sales cycle. We will also initiate a connected Partner specialist community which will allow access to MS specialist teams and access to the Innovation Centres to assist with the development of Partner business models to grow their IOT offering.
The Partners are already delivering real IoT projects with clients which are delivering on an end-to-end IoT solution. Some have hired data scientists to work on big data analytics while others have purchased device companies to bring connectivity of devices into the business offering.
But mostly they have had to the forethought to understand that the trajectory of IoT solutions is up, it’s here to stay, and it’s changing the world as we know it.
It’s a moment in history that’s worth acknowledging.
For more information on the IoT program please click here.
