Aug 21, 2013

Rethinking the mHealth Value Proposition

Over the past few weeks there have been a couple of thought provoking developments in the mHealth market. The first event was the withdrawal of two recently launched mHealth services by O2 UK on the grounds that there was inadequate consumer demand. The second event relates to Verizon Wireless which obtained FDA approval for its mobile health remote monitoring and personal health data platform.

These developments prompted me to revisit some earlier work I did on the value proposition in mHealth. In particular, I was investigating whether remote monitoring is actually a relatively minor, but necessary, element in the business model. My earlier work focused on diabetes care although I suspect that the arguments carry over to other chronic health conditions.

Aug 1, 2013

'Place' as an IoT Strategy

As with the case of ‘cloud computing services’ and ‘big-data’, Internet of Things (IoT) applications [1] have been propelled into the business mainstream as companies have jumped on the latest wave of business-press marketing.

For companies that actually want and need to develop an IoT strategy, however, the lack of clarity in distinguishing between IoT services (based on mash-ups of data from multiple and often un-related sources) and traditional M2M services (which involve connected devices within a narrow and well defined industry vertical) constitutes a source of long term business risk.

Jul 14, 2013

M2M Acquisitions and the Price of Growth

The topic of acquisitions in the M2M market has featured in several company announcements and several of my discussions with industry players. In late June Avista Capital Partners completed its $253m acquisition of Telular Corporation, an M2M event monitoring and reporting service provider.

During the month of May, the CEO of Sierra Wireless was quizzed about his company’s acquisition intentions by financial analysts at a Global TMT Conference organised by Jefferies, an investment bank. Following its divestiture of a non-core business unit to focus on M2M, Sierra Wireless holds about $160m on its balance sheet. Of this, about $100m is being earmarked for M&A initiatives. So, what are some of the considerations that will determine how these funds might be deployed?

Jul 7, 2013

M2M Corporate Initatives - Strong H1-2013

Over the first half of 2013, there has been strong evidence that companies in the M2M market are continuing to implement a range of business strategies to capture new M2M service and revenue opportunities. Specifically:

  • the number of corporate initiatives is more than double that for the corresponding period in 2012

  • the market is no longer entirely driven by supply-side companies; several enterprises have strategically embraced M2M connectivity and have either partnered with mobile network operators or they are taking the lead role in developing new services

Jun 19, 2013

Prices and Value of Consumer Data

The topic of personal data has interested me for a number of years because it is at the heart of new approaches to marketing and service development based on connected devices. I have written about the commercial potential of personal data from a business model perspective [1] for the GSM Association and introduced the concept of Stewardship and Platform Innovator strategies for companies in the mobile eco-system.

I was therefore pleased to see the Financial Times (FT) publish a series of articles on consumer data. Accompanying this series is an interactive calculator [2] that allows readers to determine a price for their personal data based on pricing benchmarks supplied by a data broker. After filling in the options for my own profile - in terms of demographics, family and health, property, activities of interest, and consumer behaviors - it appears that the price for my personal profile is about US$0.80.

Jun 13, 2013

2G or not 2G?

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year, AT&T announced a plan to shut down its 2G network by 2017. This event formally confirms the fact that companies need to plan their connected device offerings on the basis of (more expensive) 3G modules (although it should be noted that AT&T had already adopted a '3G only' modules strategy for quite some time).

Several M2M service providers, including Aeris, Sprint and RACO Wireless, subsequently highlighted their commitment to existing, second generation networks and the M2M applications these are able to support. In essence, connected-device companies were being asked “why should they employ more costly 3G modules when (low data rate) M2M applications can be implemented with far less expensive 2G modules?”

Jun 4, 2013

Developing IoT Privacy as a Value Proposition

Companies offering services based on connected devices will increasingly have access to significant amounts of highly granular data about consumers and their connected devices. This trend is heightening privacy-related concerns about the way that such data might be used and the potential for consumers to be harmed.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s recently launched an inquiry into privacy and security implications of the Internet of Things. In the commentary below, I outline my views of the key issues from a business perspective. One key consideration is to demonstrate the economic value that companies are currently capturing by combining consumer data from multiple sources.

I also highlight the fact that there will be beneficial as well as harmful uses of private data. While consumers should be protected against harmful scenarios, policy makers and business organizations that have an interest in the long-term viability of the IoT market also need to ensure that consumers are not ruthlessly exploited under apparently beneficial situations. Through this perspective, concepts of trust and stewardship related to the use of private data can be developed into new and appealing value propositions.