Partner Ecosystems Expand Amid Growing Enterprise Demand for IoT

In a recent analysis ranking more than 500 companies on their IoT service capabilities, ABI Research finds that both partner programs and their member companies continue to mature in their IoT offerings, with 59% of listed organizations receiving a high IoT maturity grade. This is nearly double the number of organizations that received a high maturity ranking when ABI first researched this trend in September 2015.

This increase in IoT maturity stems in part from the actions of partner programs that offered their members access to training and certification programs, according to the researcher.

“Within these ecosystems, there is a continuing shift from traditional volume-based partnerships to value-based partner engagements,” says Ryan Harbison, research analyst at ABI Research. “These IoT programs require a higher level of engagement from both [vendors] and participants who together seek to offer a differentiated solution using a diverse and sometimes undifferentiated set of technologies.”

Over a period of nearly two years, ABI Research identified a 40% increase in the number of companies offering manufacturing, industrial, and enterprise IoT solutions. The biggest increase, however, occurred in the hospitality segment, which saw a 164% growth in the number of companies offering vertical-specific solutions. This is attributed to increasing demand from hotels looking to monitor and automate building processes while also offering guests personalized digital experiences.

Channel Impact^®
The data underscore the contention that IoT carries substantial opportunity at the business level, and many channel programs are being adjusted in response to the shift.