Open and flexible architecture is an important characteristic of leading IoT application enablement platforms (AEPs). Last week, Cumulocity joined the OASIS standards body and announced native support for MQTT protocol. IoT AEPs like Cumulocity provide middleware that powers IoT solutions across a broad spectrum of industry verticals. The platform must be architected to provide maximum value while remaining use-case agnostic. Cumulocity’s continued expansion of supported standards and protocols demonstrates a commitment to ensuring the platform provides commercial support for current and future technologies.
MachNation defines an IoT AEP as a technology-centric offering optimized to deliver a best-of-breed, industry-agnostic, extensible middleware core for building a set of interconnected or independent IoT solutions for customers. An AEP vendor relies on a flexible deployment model; a comprehensive set of device and enterprise-backend connector SDKs and APIs; and a set of well-documented developer resources. AEP vendors assemble a network of application development, system integrator and service provider partners that build custom IoT applications on the platform for customers.
The MQTT protocol has existed for ages, but has recently seen renewed interest from the IoT ecosystem. MQTT’s lightweight publish/subscribe model is ideal for devices with processing and battery constraints. Devices communicate using MQTT with lower overheads thus enabling solutions to exist where less streamlined protocols would affect technical feasibility or negatively impact the ROI of the overall solution.
By providing out-of-the-box support for MQTT, Cumulocity empowers its network of partners to bring devices online more quickly and with less effort. Native MQTT support demonstrates that as an AEP, Cumulocity is focused on the developer audience at both system integrators and service provides as well as at enterprises deploying the IoT solution. Being developer focused is one of the criteria of a leading IoT AEP as discussed in MachNation’s 2015 IoT Application Enablement ScoreCard.
Cumulocity’s participation in the OASIS alliance underscores the vendor’s commitment to an open IoT ecosystem. MachNation believes that active participation in open industry alliances and support for protocols used in IoT make an AEP more future-proof and shows that a vendor is committed to working in an open ecosystem that further facilitates and accelerates the adoption of IoT solutions across a diverse set of verticals.
System integrators, services providers and enterprises in verticals such as oil and gas, industrial, municipal, transportation and fleet management benefit from adopting IoT middleware with a wide range of support for a diverse set of devices, protocols and connectivity options. The most forward-thinking solutions will take advantage of modular and nimble technologies that will be able to keep up with the rapid pace of innovation we see in IoT today.
According to MachNation forecasts, the worldwide IoT application enablement market will be USD1.1 billion in 2016 growing to USD83.2 billion by 2025 at a compound annual growth rate of 62%. The application enablement market is comprised of two types of vendors — AEPs and platform-enabled solutions (PES) vendors. Both vendors are showing tremendous revenue growth. For more information on the growth of IoT application enablement, MachNation partners can access our complete IoT Application Enablement Worldwide Forecast: 2016-2025.
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