Let's start with a lateral jump. M2M (Machine-To-Machine) is an unfortunate misnomer. Early deployments took place on factory floors, but the first M is almost always a device and the second is a computer system.
The jump is to ignore the term and to think of M2M as a set of communication applications that monitor and measure physical parameters and then process the data into valuable real-time information.
In theory it can be any parameter, but in this article we are only considering parameters that affect the way an enterprise conducts its business, e.g. the location of mobile assets. That was a very simple example: for the moment we are keeping things simple, but not too simple.
M2M communications has the proven ability to reduce costs, save time, boost operational efficiency and improve customer service or just fundamentally change business models from OPEX to CAPEX. It's a powerful combination: one that has a positive impact on bottom lines. Moreover it's easy to prove that statement: M2M has been a remarkable success story and it came through the recent recession in good shape and growth rates are between 10 and 20%. Figures vary from one market sector to another.
Vertical Markets
M2M encompasses numerous market sectors: Security; Automotive; Buildings; Smart energy; Homes; Healthcare; Industry; Infrastructure; Transportation and Retail. The M2M industry refers to them as vertical markets because the applications were created as silo solutions that stand apart from enterprise environments.
The silo model is not an efficient way to communicate and it's also a barrier to further development. It's inefficient because the same wheel is reinvented for different applications, even when they are for the same sector. And it's a barrier because business processes like CRM and ERP employ a horizontal model, which has a common system architecture that enables component sharing.
The combination of silo solutions and apps that run on proprietary middleware platforms has, until recently, inhibited moves into the information & communications technology (ICT), standards-based, open systems environment. If the ROI can be justified, then the system can be engineered: engineers are clever people.
Last year's article on "Integrating Mobilized Assets: The logic and the issues" indicated that standards are the biggest barrier and that we could expect to see real progress in Q1 2011. And we did.
The New M2M Environment
Details of the new environment are given in a later section, and a schematic of the high-level architecture is shown below.
In this section we indicate the key developments that are going to facilitate the integration of real-time information emanating from real-time M2M information with mainstream processes like CRM and ERP. And then we cover the functionality that will enable M2M apps to move into the cloud.
This high-level architecture is the result of ETSI's standardization process, which started two years ago. This high-level concept can be impmlemented in different ways.
The devices can connect directly to the network domain. Alternatively they can connect to the network via a gateway, which can execute applications on behalf of the network domain. This gateway is therefore a standards-based M2M platform and it will only be a matter of time before it replaces today's proprietary middleware products.
Platform vendors will take issue with that statement, but I recall the PBX industry going into denial when VoIP came along.
Migrating to the Cloud
In addition to the architecture, there is agreement on M2M service capabilities. They provide: functions that can be shared by different applications; exposure of functionality via open interfaces; use of core network functionality; and simplified, optimized application development and deployment.
This combination will allow M2M applications to migrate from the current vertical silo model and adopt the horizontal model of mainstream computing.
Open systems and the adoption of standards will not only enable migration, it will also allow M2M to become an integral part of enterprise environments, which will facilitate the integration of M2M information with mainstream business processes. And the new ability to share functional components will allow M2M to become an integral part of the direction in which enterprise ICT environments are moving, i.e. cloud computing.
Why Do We Need Integration?
Integration will allow ICT departments to manage M2M and to align the applications with corporate policies, and there will be cost savings. But there is a much bigger reason why business process integration is needed. In a nutshell, it will leverage legacy investments. For example:
A typical vehicle tracking solution would employ wireless devices that give precise location information. The value of this information can be leveraged when the solution is integrated with ERP and CRM.
ERP integration would identify which trucks were carrying which products. Integration with CRM would allow customer services staff to not only answer an inquiry with a plain vanilla reply such as "being shipped", but they would also be able to give an ETA.
The Mobile Enterprise
Integration is also required because enterprises are mobilizing the employee side of their business processes, e.g., enabling access to back-office databases via smartphones. When M2M applications are integrated, when the applications become part of the ICT environment, databases are automatically updated with real-time information coming from the vertical applications, thereby complementing the manual process and leveraging both investments. See "The Mobile Enterprise: Delivering the Promise" for an earlier article on this development.
The New High-Level Architecture
The new architecture has extended M2M capabilities in the core networks as well as a separate device domain. In this model the applications can run in the device domain over an M2M LAN, and the gateway concept can unleash the considerable power of advanced, dual-processor chips that are being embedded in devices. M2M devices therefore start to track, albeit at a lower level, the development path of PCs, i.e. the transition from dumb terminals to today’s powerful devices.
An Inflection Point
The inflection point comes from the fact that these developments combine to allow application developers to leverage the functionality of intelligent wireless devices, i.e. their ability to process data at the local level, and in turn this will accelerate the deployment of applications that run over the local M2M area network. In this scenario, the wide area core network would only be used to transmit information to a central facility so that it could be displayed, e.g. on a Web portal. Time will tell whether it leads to the creation of new market sectors and sub-sectors. For example, when powerful processors are embedded in the modules, local intelligence can be used to employ analytics that support capabilities such as making real-time decisions, reducing data traffic and identifying critical events.
Conclusions
The validity of these developments will come via the development and deployment of industry-standard, open systems, and that is taking place. Two solutions that are up and running will be examined in the next article.
Bob Emmerson is a freelance writer who lives in The Netherlands. Email: [email protected]. Web: www.electric-words.org.
