Business benefits drive the value of an open platform

By Rami Avidan, CEO of Wyless

“Our customers can concentrate on running their business, while we deliver the managed open services and the data they need, when they need it, where they need it”
-Rami Avidan, Wyless

In today's world consumers and business users are used to talking to each other on mobile phones, and many of us are used to receiving e-mails and messages on our phones or Blackberrys. The connection is transparent. The telecoms industry has successfully focussed on building and delivering a voice network to enable the 7 billion people on this planet to communicate with each other using over 2 billion mobile phones.

Businesses understand the value of wireless communication in being able to provide their employees with greater flexibility and access to real-time information, and in doing so reduce costs, increase efficiency, and develop new business models. The real-time nature of information gave birth to the phrase "Real Time Enterprise", which proposes that competitive advantage can be gained from not wasting time. It is clear that reducing the time to get information, to respond to market needs and to make decisions can all have a significant impact on a company's business performance.

The focus for businesses has been on empowering their employees, but in analysing the benefits of enabling all mobile and remote assets to communicate, the opportunities for further gains appear.

It is easy to see the real benefits that can arise from enabling remote devices to capture and communicate data in terms of being able to control the devices, monitor their status, and report events and alerts. These include:

Cost savings – Connecting remote devices and retrieving data from them into the Enterprise, thus turning data into valuable information for the business and delivering real-time business information to Enterprise users as required.

Decisions and processes around inventory and maintenance can be streamlined.

Service enhancement – a connected product can enable the manufacturer to sell additional Service Level Agreements (SLAs) or provide an improved level of service.

Revenue generation – a connected product can facilitate the change in a business model from a product-centric model to a service-based model, thereby creating additional revenue streams driving more rapid ROI.

To connect these machines effectively across the globe is one of the major challenges and opportunities facing the networking industry today. Various technologies and providers offer wireless connectivity, and consumers and businesses are ever more keen to take advantage of the benefits of remote working and to monitor and control their devices and assets. The face of wireless communications is changing rapidly as the business benefits become clearer; it is becoming an open platform for a connected world.

This is especially true of machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, which is being adopted by enterprises worldwide to manage their business-critical applications. From retail and transportation to security and healthcare, organisations are realising how crucial it is to stay connected to their devices. In fact, a recent report by Beecham Research

(www.beechamresearch.com) found that businesses across all major industries consider M2M connectivity "imperative" or "very important" for their future. It further found that remote diagnostics and management of devices were major requirements from a wireless services provider.

An important factor that needs consideration is the total cost of ownership (TCO) of M2M connectivity. International roaming rates, for example, are a critical factor as global wireless networks are inevitably reliant on worldwide roaming capabilities. As such, companies can find themselves struggling with increasing costs for global roaming. When working with a Global Network Enabler (GNE), this cost is accounted for and controlled within the package and rates. Additionally, recent developments in the European Union's plan to cap roaming rates will help keep these costs under control. The pricing regulations will enable a transparent and cost-effective pricing policy for the European telecoms market, benefiting both the companies supplying and using global wireless networks.

However, this is still only the tip of the iceberg in terms of cost. For a true count of the total cost of ownership, companies also need to take into account the often-prohibitive costs of deploying and managing a global wireless network in-house. This can be a time consuming and administration-intensive process and can harbour many technical difficulties.

Outsourcing this technology is an ideal solution for companies to ensure the global wireless data network is deployed and managed as quickly and professionally as possible. Working with a global wireless managed services provider reduces TCO and results in more efficient solutions that would not be possible in-house with similar levels of investment.

We are seeing that companies are looking for more Managed Services from their supplier on a glocal basis, such as the ability to easily link their Enterprise into their global network through API's and to be able to securely manage their remote assets and devices over the internet. They are also looking for "plug-and-play" with the devices they deploy on the network and therefore more rapid deployment of the applications and faster ROI.

How are our customers taking advantage of the "Open platform for a connected world"?

Customer Case Study 1 – ABB Robotics

ABB Robotics is a leader in power and automation technologies. ABB's objective was to expand and improve its product and service offerings, but its innovative ideas were constrained by the prospect of managing a global wireless network with little expertise. ABB required a worldwide wireless data network and an internet-based Management Platform to provide real-time control and visibility of its network and connections, all day, every day.

The customer has developed and implemented a wireless monitoring system for industrial robots to deliver new customer services. The Remote Service logs the robot's key diagnostic data and sends it remotely to a service centre via GPRS technology. The robot can automatically alert the central database and alert the on-call service engineer, who can then immediately access a detailed data error log and quickly identify the exact fault, resulting in dramatically lowering the TCO for their customers.

The industrial robots can be shipped anywhere in the world. Wyless provides the customer with a single connection to a global network, predictable worldwide pricing and a network infrastructure that they could use to develop further Smart Services.

"Wyless provides a unique managed data network which enables us to communicate with our robots anywhere in the world. We have worked with Wyless to integrate its Management Platform into our Remote Service, so we can provide our customers with a reduction in the downtime of their equipment and in on-site maintenance. Our customers can be sure to have the best experts available 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week", stated Dominique Blanc, Product Manager Remote Service, ABB Robotics.

Customer Case Study 2 – RSI Video Technologies

RSI Video Technologies, manufacturer of the world's first wireless video alarm, wanted to bring their Videofied product to market "pre-enabled and network ready". They required a partner to work with them so that they could provide a "plug-and-play" product to their dealers that can be quickly and easily deployed. This enabled them to rapidly build their dealer channel and provide capabilities for their dealers to be able to offer a variety of value-added services, giving them improved ROI and the opportunity to create additional revenue streams for themselves.

This partnership between device provider and SIM provider enables easy installation and quick and simple provisioning and deployment. This is especially beneficial to smaller companies who would otherwise struggle to implement and provision a global wireless M2M network across their organisations without the necessary infrastructure, expertise and funds. The pre-packaged solution removes the complexities of system configuration and substantially improves time-to-market for the customer.

Customer Case Study 3 – Verifone

Security is major challenge, and the Wyless Intelligent Network provides SIMs with private Fixed IP, creating a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) between the device and the server. This was a key requirement of Verifone, the global leader in secure electronic payment technologies. The patented Fixed IP connectivity met all of their security requirements and had to comply with the UK banks' APACS high-level security protocol.

When Chip and Pin was introduced in the UK, Verifone wanted to introduce mobile point of sale (EPOS) devices for it's growing number of retailers who needed wireless mobile devices to use for credit card transactions. Verifone also wanted to deal with one provider and ensure maximum coverage. By working with Wyless they were able to take advantage of coverage from multiple mobile operators without having to negotiate separate contracts and receive separate bills.

"Using Wyless we were able to simplify our supply chain as we are able to activate and de-activate SIMs in our EPOS terminals throughout the UK via a web interface using Wyless's unique back office management system", stated Giles Cooper, Business Development Manager, Verifone.

A Global Managed Service requires a combination or interlocking of 4 key elements. If the Managed Service provider does not meet or exceed the following criteria then you are talking to the wrong supplier: 

"Open platform for a connected world"

1. Open Connectivity

Wyless Open Connectivity allows any device in any country on any platform to be connected to the Intelligent Network.

• A single global data source provides open connectivity to the global network.
• The single open connection has a Private Fixed IP address as standard to provide true two-way communication between the server and the device  and enhanced security.
• The Private Fixed IP address enables connection to the network without requiring any additional hardware, software or middleware.

2. Intelligent Network

The Intelligent Network has been designed to focus on wireless data communication and, through the use of patented technology, to manage the global network and technically integrate with multiple network providers. The intelligence is in the network, making implementation quick and easy.

• One contract for a wireless data network spanning over 120 countries using more than 200 GPRS networks and more than 400 GSM networks globally.
• No need to deal with multiple operators or develop, manage and support your own wireless infrastructure.
• Flat and fixed price tariff pricing options.

 3. Open Platform

Porthos is a powerful internet-based control system. It provides visibility and control of wireless and wired connections across your network.

• Set and receive alerts and alarms
• Activate and deactivate SIMs
• Manage network configurations and parameters
• Provisioning
• Integration of this unique functionality into existing applications using the Wyless API
• Real-time Reporting
• Billing capability to enable companies to do their own billing

4. Professional Services

A managed service provider should provide experienced consultants who are able to help you scope the solution that you are looking for or to assist your own staff in the project management. This includes:

• Pre-Sales: Planning and scoping of projects
• Consultancy: From development to deployment
  - Integration of software APIs
  - Project Management
  - Training
• Post -Sales; SLAs
  - Service Desk (24/7/365)
  - Planned regular operational reviews

How do customers benefit? 

CEOs – 1 contract, 1 price, 1 invoice, 1 account manager, 1 number for support

CFOs – see the benefits of outsourcing by having a single global provider manage a non-core activity and the reductions in the TCO which follow. Reduced TCO via the ability to outsource wireless connectivity.

Operation Managers – benefit from real-time information, increased efficiencies and improved processes, increase in customer satisfaction and potential new revenue streams. One of the main barriers to offering managed services has been the lack of a suitable billing system. Customers can use the Wyless billing engine to bill their own customers.

CTOs and IT Directors – value the ability to monitor and control their wireless data connections, the increased security, and the increased control. The time and costs associated with deployment and implementation are reduced and on-going management is provided on a global basis.

End-users – benefit from real-time information enabling them to react faster to changes in events, communicate securely and reliably with their enterprise applications and have robust and reliable connections in over 120 countries.

In summary, the Wyless mission is to enable our customers and partners to reduce their costs and increase their revenue while contributing to a greener world, by providing them with innovative and flexible connectivity solutions for increased visibility and control of business and/or people critical applications.

For more information, please contact: marketing@wyless.com.