IDC Internet of Things (IoT)in the Middle East region

“In our region, many countries have adopted diverse IoT trends, in both private and public sectors. One of which is the UAE’s initiative for “Smart Dubai”, which was launched in 2014 with a vision of transforming Dubai into the most efficient and safe city. The progress has been very successful so far, and Dubai is now moving towards its aim by establishing itself as the smartest city ever, enabling the government to improve productivity, efficiency, and citizen experiences,” says Mohammad Jamal Tabbara, senior systems engineer, UAE and Channel, Infoblox.

Eric Brouwers, VP, MEA, Barco, said, “More than just cutting costs, IoT usage can generate a strong return on investment by increasing customer loyalty and referrals, uncovering insights to cross-sell or up-sell to customers, and developing customer-appealing product. As organisations realise the added value that is provided by IoT, we are seeing further development of innovative industry-specific solutions.”

According to Graham Porter, head of channels, Middle East, Veeam, a number of vendors have been talking about “connected everything.”

For example, cars with sensors talking to the garage and insurance company; manufacturing machines on an IP network feeding back information about likely failures and component shortages; houses and communities being checked to ensure utilities are 100 percent available by monitoring pumps, generators, water levels and electrical consumption.

However, how does a partner fit into this picture? Porter says, “IoT solutions are typically verticalised and require a lot of services, so this becomes a fundamental question to partners ‘who are you and what do you do?’”

He goes on to explain that while there is a great deal of hype around the technology, the partnerships required to make it a reality are still in its infancy. The potential of IoT is vast and enormous and partners need to be well-equipped to truly optimise it.

“Smart cities such as Dubai are looking at road management, where they have already rolled out a toll system based on RFID, however this is being driven by vendors and consultants today, not partners,” he adds.

Agreeing, Tabbara says, “Businesses are commonly looking for an integrated end-to-end IoT solutions. Channel partners need to identify the current IoT trends and regional initiatives at first, and then offer integrated solutions that form an orchestrated ecosystem to their prospects.”

He believes by doing so, and by offering an end-to-end multi-vendor integrated IoT solution, partners can go after diverse opportunities, make more margins from multiple technologies simultaneously, and diversify their revenue stream.

Source https://www.tahawultech.com/resellerme/features/how-to-profit-from-the-internet-of-things-era/