IoT Managed Services Forecast: $85B by 2022

The Internet of Things offers businesses great opportunities in both lowering their costs and increasing their revenue potential. But getting IoT implementations in place, and scaling and supporting them so they can meet business goals, is no small task. That explains why the global IoT managed services market is a growing opportunity.

According to new data from Market Research Future, the global IoT managed services space is expected to be a $85 billion business by 2022. Such services include establishing and managing applications, connectivity, devices and security, the report indicates.

“Providing their customers with an additional set of back-end managed services to help them administer their operations has proved to be a lucrative business in the desktop, client-server and cloud computing environments,” says Jeff Kaplan, managing director of consulting firm THINKstrategies, writing for E-Commerce Times.

He says managed services both provide managed services providers with an additional revenue stream and help them gain greater insights into their customers' needs so they can recommend additional investments and win additional business.

“The IoT phenomenon is even more conducive to a managed service solution,” Kaplan adds, “because many of today's IoT initiatives are being driven by functional business units rather than IT.”

We’ve all been talking for a while now about the fragmented IoT ecosystem, and how that makes it difficult and confusing for customers and prospects to decide on, purchase, create, and benefit from IoT solutions. In response to that conversation, many companies have stepped up and said they can help put together the equipment and services organizations need for their IoT implementations. And big systems integrators like Accenture and PwC as well as tier 1 communications services providers like AT&T and Verizon are already doing that. So are industry-vertical specialists such as Honeywell, Otis, and Rockwell.

In creating their own strategies and talking with potential IoT solutions providers, organizations should be asking the following questions, notes Steve Brumer, a partner with 151 Advisors:

• What does an IoT deal look like?
• Who’s supporting it?
• How’s it done?
• How is it charged for?