Machine2Cloud
I have a deep seated ambivalence for the term “M2M”. I see it as an anachronism, too rooted in the past to be useful to us now. But today everyone is using it to describe all kinds of markets/technologies. Between the term’s history and the current hype I can’t help but think it’s confusing the heck out of everyone (including me). So I conjured up the term “Machine2Cloud” (M2C!) while thinking about decent alternatives though I’m not suggesting it’s much better. But at least it has in its make up the components of what I think is most exciting.
Salesforce.com came to market in 2000 with a (cloud-based) $999 package that competed admirably with the then best-in-class, behind-the-firewall Siebel SFA system costing hundreds of thousands more. Even better, there was nothing to install, no IT manager to contact/coerce, no boss to convince. It was easy to try with little to no risk if it failed. It made the SFA experiment affordable. The “I” in the ROI equation was very low and potential “R” disproportionately high. It had the added benefit of making the sales manager look like a hero to his/her boss. Salesforce.com used this approach spectacularly well. They are now a huge, successful business and Siebel is no more.
The same approach that brought the value of SFA to the world’s millions of sales people, can now be used identically to bring value to the growing millions (no, trillions! thx Ericcson) of net-connected machines around the globe. “Machine2Cloud” applications will bring low cost, low risk, high impact solutions to organizations that may have eyed and admired the perceived benefits of real-time information but were concerned about costs. M2C architectures will help take the pain out of experimenting and trying new things. It will provide the opportunity to scale quickly without the attendant, risky investments in IT infrastructure and IP licensing. In short, it will bring all the benefits of real-time information – namely better, more timely decision making – to anyone interested in giving it a shot.
Supporting my belief that M2C will soon get a lot of attention is the rapid increase in interest of the world’s wireless carriers in M2M. All the US providers have organized dedicated M2M sales units. The major carriers in EMEA, Latin America and Asia are also announcing programs. Why? It’s simple. They have to sell significantly more data at substantially higher rates of growth (if they’re to keep Wall st. happy) and the M2M/M2C worlds are a natural.
Low cost, easy to setup/administer wireless access to machines, I strongly believe, is a cornerstone for next the wave of M2M innovation. M2C is a natural derivative. Imagine setting up a complete telematics solution in a week instead of 3 months. Or installing a group of innovative POS kiosks or vending machines over a weekend. The tools coming available today allow for a literal “drop & go” approach. This will radically change the landscape for M2M/M2C innovators.
This type of thinking fits neatly into what I suggested in my earlier post. M2M will get absorbed into the more general, and meaningful, enterprise apps space. Which, frankly, is better for everyone in the industry, and most importantly, more valuable to customers.
