Tag: IoT


Salesforce Reshuffles SaaS, PaaS and APIs in the Internet of Things and AI

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14th October

It can be a full-time job trying to keep up with Salesforce’s latest cloud offerings and messaging. However, it is always worth the effort, because the company’s pronouncements are often early bellwethers of the future direction of the software industry.

This has become particularly true with respect to the company’s evolving efforts to penetrate and gain a prominent position in the artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) markets. Salesforce’s most recent moves, in anticipation of its annual Dreamforce conference, also could be a key indicator of the rapidly changing competitive landscape.

Salesforce has been in the vanguard of promoting Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and, more broadly, the value of the cloud. As it has gained success with its widening array of SaaS/cloud offerings, it also has borrowed a strategy from the traditional software industry playbook: adding a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) development layer … Read More »



Next Downturn Could Have Silver Lining for IoT – A Guest Commentary in E-Commerce Times

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7th April

Although nearly every research study and industry survey suggests the Internet of Things (IoT) market is growing rapidly, plenty of companies are holding back from pursuing IoT opportunities, for a variety of reasons.

Underlying all of the concerns and challenges regarding IoT is uncertainty about the immediate economic return on today’s IoT investments. Ironically, the possibility of a long-overdue financial downturn in the next few years could force executives to put aside their apprehensions and finally launch new IoT initiatives.

Click here to read THINKstrategies’ analysis in E-Commerce Times about how a variety of new technologies and delivery models were born during the recessions of the past 50 years and what it means for the IoT marketplace.



The Crystallization of Salesforce’s IoT Strategy – A Guest Commentary in E-Commerce Times

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12th January

While the general public’s fascination with technology largely has been focused on the latest connected products unveiled at the recent CES conference in Las Vegas, many companies are trying to figure out where the real business opportunities lie in the long-awaited rise of the Internet of Things. One of the early proponents of IoT’s unprecedented potential was Salesforce.com, which promoted its own view of the concept in the form of the “Internet of the Customer,” or IoC.

Over the past three years, Salesforce has argued that creating connected products and services also can improve the customer experience, tighten the level of customer engagement, and create new business opportunities for the company. Since launching its IoC campaign and creating its IoT Cloud, Salesforce has been searching for the right formula to specifically meet the needs of its customers.

Click here to … Read More »



Despite Initial Fanfare Salesforce IoT Cloud Still Seeks User Enthusiasm

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8th November

Over the past two years, major vendors have braced for the oncoming wave of the internet of things. As recently as 2015, Salesforce launched its IoT Cloud — its application for managing IoT data — to much buzz and fanfare.

But since the launch of technologies like IoT Cloud, the idea of a connected world of products and services suffered from caveats, such as “it’s still early days.” But despite the buzz that accompanied Salesforce IoT Cloud and its debut, it’s hard to deny that technology played only a peripheral part at Dreamforce 2016. The shift reflects a combination of factors that have forced Salesforce to reconsider how it has positioned its IoT strategy and what it needs to do to deliver on its promises.

Click here to read THINKstrategies’ perspectives in SearchSalesforce about the market implications of this shift in focus and … Read More »



Rethinking Software Development in the IoT – A Guest Commentary in Datamation

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12th July

Nearly five years ago, Marc Andreessen famously proclaimed that “software is eating the world,” and he is probably surprised how much of the world is actually influenced by software today. Nowhere is this more true than in the brave, new world of the Internet of Things (IoT).

No matter which market forecast you read, the commonly held view is that nearly every product and service will be connected over the next decade. And these connections wouldn’t be of much value unless there is software in place to determine what data points should be captured and what actions should be taken in response to the information being collected.

Given that IoT’s business benefits must be measured in improved products and better customer support, as well as higher sales at lower costs, the software development process must be more inclusive than the past. DevOps … Read More »



Leveraging the IoT to Redefine Your Business – A Guest Commentary in E-Commerce Times

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8th July

While most businesses are focusing their efforts to capitalize on the Internet of Things (IoT) in areas that will generate immediate cost-savings and operating efficiencies, a number of IoT pioneers are already leveraging a new generation of connected products to fundamentally change their business models.

As more organizations recognize the strategic impact IoT can have on their business, you’ll see many more leverage IoT to reposition themselves in a rapidly changing marketplace.

Click here to read THINKstrategies‘ latest commentary in E-Commerce Times about three companies that are moving down the path of redefinition in the IoT today.



Redefining the Vendor-Customer Relationship in the IoT – A Guest Commentary in E-Commerce Times

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21st June

The advent of a brave new world of connected products and services in the Internet of Things (IOT) is forcing organizations of all sizes across nearly every industry to reconsider how they will interact with their customers in the future.

As a consequence, a growing number of companies are thinking about how they have to redefine their businesses to better serve their customers going forward.

These ideas were showcased at the recent PTC LiveWorx conference in Boston. The event drew approximately 5,000 attendees from a wide array of enterprises worldwide to demonstrate how previously standalone technologies and applications now are converging to enable the idea of IoT to become a reality.

Click here to read THINKstrategies’ views in E-Commerce Times regarding how building connected products is becoming an essential strategy for restructuring the vendor-customer relationship in the IoT.



Peeling Back the Layers of the IoT Onion – A Guest Commentary in Sandhill.com

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24th May

Maybe the best indications that the Internet of Things (IoT) market is at the peak of Gartner’s hype cycle are the proliferation of industry conferences and vendor platforms.

And it is increasingly possible that the IoT industry could fall into the “trough of disillusionment” as many IoT solutions providers admit to me that finding buyers willing to make strategic investments in connected products and services is a real challenge.

The recent IoT World conference is the best illustration of the IoT’s split personality.

Click here to read THINKstrategies’ perspective in Sandhill.com regarding the forces which are obstructing demand for IoT platforms and slowing growth of the IoT marketplace.



The Emergence of Managed IoT Services – A Guest Commentary in E-Commerce Times

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13th May

With every market forecast predicting rapid growth of the overall Internet of Things (IoT), industry and investor focus shifts to specific market segments that will experience the quickest adoption. While most of the attention is on particular applications and technologies, I think managed IoT services will be one of the biggest market opportunities.

One of the greatest challenges standing in the way of widespread IoT adoption is the lack of skills and experience to evaluate, acquire and integrate all the piece parts necessary to assemble an IoT deployment. Click here to read THINKstrategies’ views in E-Commerce Times regarding how these forces will fuel the emergence of a new generation of IoT managed services.



How Mainstream Industries Form IoT Vanguard

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9th March

Although the consumer implications of the Internet of Things (IoT) have generated plenty of public attention, the real growth in the embryonic IoT market is coming from less visible industrial environments and business applications.

The early IoT advancements may come as a surprise to some, but in these industries, organizations moving quickly to deploy more connected products and services makes sense for a number of reasons.

Click here to read THINKstrategies’ perspectives regarding Gartner’s latest survey findings about the early adopters of IoT in E-Commerce Times.






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