Following the recent news of companies partnering with new agreements and signings all in the name of IoT, CBR put together a list of the top 5 biggest companies found to be making partnerships in light of IoT.
- Microsoft
Microsoft has made a huge number of partnerships, following the release of its Azure IoT Suite, which is expected to aid the internet of things to businesses.
The Azure IoT Suite allows users to connect devices, analyse previously untapped data and integrate business systems.
There are a range of firms who have partnered with Microsoft following the Azure IoT Suite offering, while others have opted for the Cortana Intelligence Suite for Artificial Intelligence and big data related plans.
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Car firms Renault and Nissan, recently announced the signing of a multiyear agreement with Microsoft for what it calls next-generation technologies.
Rolls Royce, Genee, Solair and Dell are on the list of firms to partnering with the software firm.
In July this year GE signed a deal to make its Predix platform for the Industrial Internet available on the Microsoft Azure cloud for industrial businesses. The move marks the first step in a broad strategic collaboration between the two companies, which will allow customers around the world to capture intelligence from their industrial assets and take advantage of Microsoft’s enterprise cloud applications, the companies said.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and GE CEO Jeff Immelt
2. IBM
Following the launch of the Watson IoT Platform in 2015, IBM has been working with over 4000 IoT adopters.
The companies role in the Internet of Things started with announcement back in 2015 of a $3 billion investment over the next four years to deliver IoT solutions and services to customers.
The IoT Watson Platform is expected to offer a simplified and easy system to manage users’ devices with controlled access to IoT service and monitored usage.
Specifically in relation to the Watson Internet of Things platform, IBM has featured partners to help in relation to IoT development. They include: Intel, Raspberry Pi and others.
IoT and Cisco recently paired together to bring various businesses and organisations that run remote and autonomous operations the combined power of IBM Watson IoT.
IBM UK has a dedicated IOT partner site. Its partner network includes specialists in silicon and sensors, gateways, IOT devices, cloud, networks and systems integrators.
3. Cisco
Cisco’s partner approach to the IOT is based on what it calls IOT Specializations for the Advanced Internet of Things. The company, which already has over 80 percent of the world’s data traffic flowing through its network,. It says that in order for IoT to flow effectively, all ‘things’ require networks.
The networking giant entered the IoT market creating similar partnerships to those which boosted its role in the networking sector.
Firstly, is a partnership created with General Electrics (GE), which sees Cisco and GE working together to integrate GE’s Predix software on Cisco’s networking products.
The company has recently also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SK Telecom. SK’s ThingPlug IoT platform is expected to be integrated with Cisco’s fog computing solution.
Again, is the recent strategic alliance between Cisco and Salesforce, the two companies have partnered together to help businesses become more productive through the development of solutions which see Cisco’s IoT and contact centre platforms collaborating with Salesforce IoT cloud, sales cloud and service cloud.
Following this, Cisco has been strategically acquiring various companies in order to provide them with software capabilities needed. The biggest was Jasper Technologies which developed an Internet of Things Cloud platform for which it paid $1.4bn in February 2016.
4. General Electric
General Electric (GE), who aims to discover the Industrial Internet of Things, are one of the few companies with an objective to bring together ‘brilliant machines, advanced analytics and people at work.’
One of the company’s partnerships, announced earlier in the year, is the collaboration with Oracle on a new platform that aims to help companies digitally connect industrial assets globally.
Strategically, GE proclaimed its Industrial IoT vision in June 2016, where it set a target of $15 billion in digital industrial revenue within the next five years.
The company has also partnered with organisations such as Tata Consultancy Service (TCS) and Intel. It also made a recent acquisition of both Sweden’s Arcam and Germany’s SLM Solution Group, in light of 3D printing.
5. Qualcomm
Qualcomm Technologies is another organisation which has been spotted at the forefront proclaiming its IoT solution. The company is expected to be helping its customers make their products commercial, in a faster and more cost-effective way with the use of its optimised platforms.
The company’s main release into IoT was that of its Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine, which effectively offers OEMs an effective deep-learning experience on smartphones.
Qualcomm has also been identified to be working with various OEMs in IoT product development, by creating several connected devices.
For instance, the Sony Xperia XZ / X Compact, which were both launched at the IFA technology, show 2016, include Qualcomm’s powerful snapdragon and RAM.
