Bridging the ‘Opportunity Gap’
February 18, 2014
You’ve heard of the “achievement gap” in education and even the “glass ceiling” in the workplace, but have you heard of the “opportunity gap” in M2M? Thanks to the explosive growth and demand for M2M devices and solutions, certain limiting factors within the M2M value chain could be holding the market back from delivering upon its potential.
According to Aeris Communications, www.aeris.com, an M2M technology service provider,the opportunity gap is a set of M2M opportunities that are underserved or cannot be served due to high cost thresholds, low revenue per connection, and/or platform inflexibilities. The company suggests the efforts of mobile operators looking to pursue M2M are often stifled by factors such as mobile infrastructure and processes that were optimized for non-connected consumer devices.
This month, Aeris announced it hopes to provide new opportunities for mobile network operators to overcome these challenges—essentially bridging the opportunity gap in M2M—through its new service platform: Aeris GSP. Aeris says its GSP PaaS (platform-as-a-service)can be deployed via multiple modular service packages, which allows operators to get up and running quickly.
Aeris GSP leverages Aeris’ carrier-grade service platform that enables M2M solutions in healthcare, telematics, utilities, retail, and fleet management, among other sectors. The company says it will help mobile operators lower their service-delivery costs, adapt to new business models, and offer “advanced data services” that are meant to increase revenue per M2M connection.
For instance, Aeris GSP’s machine-optimized service core—called “AerCore”—allows operators to bypass some of the costs typically inherent in purpose-built network elements. Through AerCloud, its cloud-based data-management service, Aeris also says operators will be able to tap into big data analytics and pursue new revenue opportunities. These features, along with flexible rate plans and M2M-grade solution support, are meant to narrow the opportunity gap and help mobile network operators deliver services to meet demand in M2M.
As the M2M market takes shape, industry players must continually reshape their approach in order to take advantage of the market’s tremendous growth. By bridging the M2M “opportunity gap,” companies looking to make machine-to-machine devices and solutions more profitable are investing in the future of the Internet of Things.
