M2M: The Opportunity Is Imminent, But Are You Ready?

The holidays are about to begin, and that means new movies, the more dramatic, the better. One new release is sure to do record box office.

Let’s call it “M2M: The Triumph of the Machines," showing on the B/OSS big screen early next month.

Machine-to-machine communications (M2M) are about to rocket up a curve that may make the proverbial hockey stick look bland. People exchanging data with one another has driven the huge spike in data traffic over the past few decades, which has been a revenue boon for global service providers. But soon, M2M – machines contacting other machines – is about to take data traffic up another level.

What does M2M mean? It means, for example, a vending machine contacting a centrally located computer when a particular type of candy bar runs low, and the computer reacting to the information by dispatching a delivery to the needy vending machine just in time – but not before. It means updates on the meter being sent from a home’s heating-cooling system to a consumer’s mobile device – and adjustments made as required going in the other direction. It means inventory in-transit checking in periodically with a dispatching computer – and perhaps being re-routed based on an up-to-the-minute needs assessment. It means the Chicago Cubs fan using a smartphone while mired at work to trigger a video recorder, so that day’s defeat can be viewed on demand, if not live.

Today, devices are managed by people. People check on a device and adjust or restock them as needed. M2M will allow devices to check and adjust one another, with human intervention only when necessary. Think of a steady supply of caffeine in your company commissary, but with far fewer truck rolls.

How big is M2M going to be?

• Cisco says there will be 15 billion – that’s right, billion with a b – connected devices by 2015.
• Analysys Mason looks at the automotive and transport industry. In 2010, the London-based consultancy says, there were 21.6 million device connections in that industry alone. In 2020, one short decade later, Analysys Mason predicts there will be 276.5 million device connections, growth on an order of magnitude of 12x or 13x in a single, huge industry.
• Garnter Group foresees annual growth rates in the 30-40 percent range for the immediate future.

M2M is going to be really big no matter what your definition of big is or which baseline you prefer. M2M is going to be a mother lode for service providers, if and only if:

• service providers have back office and software strategies ready to cope when the surge begins
• service providers have policies in place to deal with the challenges that opportunity on this titanic scale invariably creates
• service providers prepare now

B/OSS is dedicated to informing service providers about the M2M opportunities and their challenges. An important part of that effort will be a Webinar on M2M, sponsored by Cycle30.  Entitled “The Monetization of M2M: Defining the Opportunity for Service Providers and Solutions Providers Alike," this Webinar will help service-provider executives charged with seizing the M2M opportunity, and dodging its pitfalls, get realistic answers to the questions posed by M2M. The M2M Webinar is free, but does require registration.

 Among the subjects the Webinar will discuss are:

• Defining M2M for the service provider 
• Partnering options between service providers, device manufacturers and solutions providers
• What M2M means for the solutions provider
• The size of the M2M opportunity 
• Requirements for an end-to-end solution

The M2M Webinar will be produced at 2 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Register here. The M2M Webinar will then be available on demand for 90 days.

Register now for this important Webinar on one of the most important subjects in the service provider world, M2M.

Larry Lannon is group publisher of VIRGO ’s Communications Network, which includes Billing & OSS World , Channel Partners and vision2mobile .