Allen Proithis of Capstone Partners gave a good crtique of

Best IoT Companies to Work For In 2018

Forbes just published an interesting article this week on the top IoT companies to work for in 2018.

It is very difficult to create any kind of list that is comprehensive and fair, especially in an emerging sector like IoT where literally almost everyone can be a supplier and a customer. Measuring companies based on whether an employee would recommend the employer to a friend is just one measure of a company’s attractiveness. It does raise an interesting question around the competition for talent. When have we seen anything discussing the importance of human capital when attacking IoT? I suspect that as the industry continues to grow, the battle for talent will intensify.  

[[ Extracts from Linked in Post ]

What is an IoT Company?  Most of the names mentioned are not traditional IoT companies, and just a few of the companies (Ayla Networks) listed were purpose built to be an IoT company. Almost all of them have been successful in a business that is adjacent to IoT, and they are using this position to support some piece of an IoT solution

Industrial IoT Leads the Way. A disproportionate number of companies are focused on the industrial space (Siemens, Schneider Electric, Eaton, Honeywell, Johnson Controls). These companies have deep, trusted relationships with their customers and a strong understanding of the business challenges and requirements.

Where are the Systems Integrators? IoT solution creation, deployment and maintenance involve a delicate dance of many suppliers from every layer of the stack – hardware, connectivity, software, etc. IoT success is about clearly identifying the business problem and then assembling a solution ecosystem to work together towards the objective. This activity is the very definition of what systems integrators do every day. From large global integrators to smaller regional or vertically focused integrators, IoT simply will not happen without them.

Hardware is an early winner. Investors prefer recurring revenue streams from software and services companies, but hardware companies serving IoT have simply been around longer and have had more time to grow.