With the announcement of the Pelion IoT Platform, Arm enters an already crowded space.
Arm plans to provide data management, device management, and connectivity management using a combination of home-grown and recently acquired technologies including Arm mbed (device management), Treasure Data (data management), and Stream Technologies (connectivity management). The focus will initially be on smart buildings, utilities, and logistics verticals.
Our initial thoughts: Arm will find itself in a very competitive landscape. And it needs to quickly crystallize its go-to-market strategy and build out a partner ecosystem around Pelion.
Arm will need to address the two following concerns as soon as possible.
With a broad feature-set spanning device, data, and connectivity management, Arm’s Pelion will be seen as a competitor by many platform vendors.
Arm’s Pelion will now compete with many players that have IoT platforms. The key player categories are hyperscale cloud vendors like Google and Microsoft, module makers like Telit and Sierra Wireless, and IoT vendors like Software AG, ClearBlade, and PTC.
Without partnerships around channel and go-to-market on the platform front, it’s unclear how Arm will reach its target audience.
It’s not surprising that Arm provided no information about launch partners or clear guidance on the platform’s partner strategy, as Pelion will put Arm in the position of competing with companies providing data and device management for IoT. Arm’s current reach is primarily with companies that use their architecture, but not with device makers and enterprises deploying and paying for IoT solutions.
We look forward to hearing from our customers about the Arm opportunity and challenges.
If you’re looking for more information about Arm and IoT platforms, feel free to contact us.