Ingram, Sprint, and myDevices this week announced they have teamed up to drive Internet of Things (IoT) opportunities for the channel.
As a provider of turnkey IoT platform myDevices has been making a case for an “IoT in a box” platform that includes an IoT gateway, an instance of a long-range (LoRA) wireless network that connects to cellular service provided by Sprint, and a set of customizable sensors.
The first instance of the IoT platform being made available via Ingram will be specifically designed to address facility management and commercial refrigeration, says myDevices CEO Kevin Bromber.
Most resellers in the channel already have established relationships spanning hundreds of thousands of customers. The challenge they face when it comes to IoT opportunities is that most approaches require solution providers to combine a wide array of technologies to create a solution that becomes difficult to support, says Bromber. The myDevices platform is designed to make it simpler for solution providers to deliver an IoT gateway that can be both easily supported and acquired via a distributor such as Ingram Micro.
“We’re trying to remove the friction,” says Bromber.
To qualify for the free trial, the end customer must be in the U.S., and the size of the deal must involve more than 25 sensors and one gateway. The free trial program is available while supplies last and subject to additional terms and conditions. Once a reseller identifies a lead and registers the opportunity via the Ingram Micro portal, a dedicated IoT specialist will be assigned to that reseller and customer. The eventual goal is to train partners to service IoT opportunities on their own, says Bromber.
Deploying IoT hardware is, of course, only the foundational layer of an IoT solution. Given the scale of highly distributed IoT applications, the solutions being crafted will be among some of the most challenging to build, support and maintain. Given that complexity, it’s arguable the hardware platforms on which those applications needs to be as simple as possible to configure, deploy and manage.
Naturally, myDevices is not the only hardware company focusing on IoT. IT vendors such as Dell Technologies and Lenovo have signaled their intent to become major providers of IoT gateways. The ultimate winner of that battle will more than likely come down to which IoT gateway provider can best motivate partners to include their platform within the context of larger IoT solution.
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