Sierra Wireless IoT Platform Gains Industrial Converts

Canadian wireless equipment maker Sierra Wireless has boasted that its IoT Acceleration Platform is “gaining traction in industrial applications across diverse organisations and geographies.”

The claim comes after the company earlier this month officially launched its new IoT Acceleration Platform.

Industrial Takeup

Sierra Wireless has been committed to IoT for a while now. The company told TechweekEurope back in March this year that it is only supplier able to a full end-to-end solution.

And indeed the company says that its new platform is “unique” because it offers “global multi-operator coverage” by combining Sierra Wireless and third-party network operator SIMs, all managed from a single unified connectivity platform.

And it also provides connectivity to the Google Cloud Platform, the enterprise cloud services offering from the search engine giant.

And now nearly a month after the new platform’s arrival, Sierra Wireless says that it is “gaining traction in industrial applications across diverse organisations and geographies.”

To this end, Veolia Water Technologies UK, has signed on the dotted line as it seeks to develop managed IoT services for customers. Another industrial customer is Nube, which claims to offer the first cloud-based IoT solution for monitoring LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) gas levels and consumption.

“Large or small and across multiple geographies, we are finding that companies offering IoT products and services have similar needs,” said Emmanuel Walckenaer, Senior VP, Cloud and Connectivity for Sierra Wireless.

“Both Veolia Water Technologies and Nube found that using the fully integrated IoT Acceleration Platform provided them with the functionality and efficiency they needed to be able to get to market quickly and focus on providing a high level of service to their customers, while efficiently managing their own operations,” said Walckenaer.

Veolia Water Technologies UK specialises in pure water systems and process water solutions. The company teamed up with Sierra Wireless to develop the Vision Air service, which provides customers with remote status and performance monitoring of critical parameters such as flow, pressure, temperature, and conductivity for their water treatment systems.

“In previous projects, we have worked with different vendors to integrate diverse components into a unified solution – a process which took considerable time and effort,” said Laurent Hanique, Operational Excellence Director for Veolia Water Technologies UK. “Sierra Wireless was able to offer us a complete solution, already pre-integrated and tested. This simplified the process and significantly reduced the development time in getting our Vision Air service to market.”

Nube meanwhile developed an IoT subscription-based solution – from the sensor installed on the tank to the mobile and web applications used both by consumers and energy companies – to monitor tank levels and conditions, order refills, complete payment and analyse data from the connected tanks throughout Mexico and Latin America.

IoT Future

The Internet of Things looks set to enjoy explosive growth in the years going forward. In July,  Juniper Research estimated that 38.5 billion units will be hooked up to the IoT by 2020 as the number of connected devices across the world triples over the next few years.

But this connectivity does also pose some security concerns.

Recently, a report from analyst firm IDC predicted that 90 percent of all IT networks will have an IoT-based security breach within the next two years, although many will be considered “inconveniences” as they target non-crucial parts of the business.

But as IoT takeup by industrial customers continues to grow, those security concerns could increase.

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