Machine to Machine (M2M) Solution Components

Here are different elements that make up a M2M solution, either to serve as a checklist for a business case or for sheer interest to wrap your head around M2M.

• Device Management
• Chip-sets, sensors, modules, battery life 
• Integrated or external SIM
• Remote updates to keep firmware and configuration current
• Remote break-fix capability, collect diagnostics to perform analytic's
• Billing, warranty and repairs 
• Re-purpose and/or recycle at end of life
• Vendors ability to provision locally across the globe 
• Vendors ability to expand and scale 
• Remote device activation, deactivation, wipe, lock and unlock 
• A cloud based real-time self-care administration interface


• Connectivity
• Software based SIM cards
• Wireless technology used, global coverage and reliability of the network  
• Consumption based and flat fee rate plans
• An administration interface for management, billing and reporting

• Software (Options)
• COTS: An off the shelf software that can be customized to requirements. If the number of customization's required are too many and there is not a product off the shelf that comes close, custom development would probably be best.
• Custom development by specialized vendors: This option is preferred over developing one in-house because preexisting skills, development environment, tools, code libraries, prepackaged functions and vendor M2M knowledge could reduce time, costs and complexity of the implementation.
• Virtualized and cloud enabled.
• License management for software, middleware and database components.
• Release and deployment management, service validation and testing.
• Software management contracted either internally, to the developer or to a 3rd vendor. Management includes monitoring, incident, problem and change management.


• Infrastructure
• Scalable, reliable and secure data center
• LAN, computing hardware and operating system
• Management of the operating system and operation of middleware and database components. Management includes monitoring, incident, problem and change management.
• Additional data collection points across the globe to minimize communication latency.

• Helpdesk
• User access management, customer support center.

While majority of the elements can be purchased as a commodity, software remains the differentiator, this is where magic happens, dollars get spent, the business cases get realized and new insights are revealed.

There are a number of vendors who are strong in one solution area, either expanding to new solution areas or integrating vendors to provide an end to end service. There are a wide range of plug-n-play type prepackaged solutions available in the market, e.g. asset tracking from mobile carriers like AT&T and Vodafone, etc.

There are also industry specific solutions for automotive, health, energy and utilities, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, retail, security, etc. While service providers big and small are rushing to provide M2M services with prepackaged use cases for industries, every company should invest in its own investigation on how M2M can enhance its current processes and what new possibilities it could reveal before engaging on commercial use cases.