Enterprise mobility management (EMM) software provider MobileIron has launched a new Internet of Things (IoT) division in its company to help customers make more sense of their implementations across the entire technology lifecycle.
The announcement, made at the firm’s analyst outing earlier today, puts more emphasis on MobileIron’s IoT play. The company cited a Bain & Company report which argues IoT vendor revenue could exceed $470 billion by 2020, while adding that its standard-based and open approach will help weed out some of the issues with inflexible, highly customised platforms.
“There’s been a lot of hype around the Internet of Things and most of it is just that: hype,” said Barry Mainz, MobileIron president and CEO in a statement. “The mistake that a lot of companies make with IoT is that they start by looking at the problem from the sensor up.
“Our customer-focused approach is exactly the opposite. Over the last year, we have worked hand in hand with our customers and global operator partners to understand how companies want to use IoT and what challenges they face,” Mainz added. “As a result, we have defined specific use cases in healthcare, energy, manufacturing, and automotive where we can help our customers. This creates a tremendous opportunity for us.”
Naturally, with IoT being arguably the biggest buzzword in the business right now, plenty of research and jockeying for position has taken place. A report from 451 Research last month argued that more than seven in 10 enterprises are gathering IoT data but struggling with return on investment, while a piece from App47 in this publication said that IoT and EMM, while separate technologies, “have more in common than you might think.”
As far back as 2014, analyst firm CCS Insight argued that IoT and EMM would begin to converge, with VP enterprise Nick McQuire telling this reporter that IoT could be where the roadmaps differ between enterprise mobility vendors. With VMware and BlackBerry also betting big – the latter with its ‘Enterprise of Things’ strategy – the two year old prediction is only going to become more prescient as time goes on.
Alongside the move, Santhosh Nair is joining MobileIron as the new VP of IoT, heading up the division and working closely with CTO and co-founder Suresh Batchu.
Picture credit: MobileIron
