The International M2M Council (IMC) a new trade group formed to propagate the adoption of the Internet of Things, has gained over 2,000 new members since February, making it the fastest-growing trade organisation serving the sector. The key to driving IoT growth is to educate enterprises about the tangible business benefits of connecting devices electronically with machine-to-machine communications technology, according to the IMC.
"We provide business content to those looking to deploy IoT solutions in the form of a library of case studies, white papers, blogs, and periodicals, all geared to provide business metrics like ROI, Total Cost of Ownership, and time-to-market. The response has been tremendous – clearly there's a hunger for information. We're gaining 50 new associate members weekly," says IMC executive director Keith Kreisher.
IMC associates – called Adopter Members – provide crucial demographic data that yields a map of who is participating in IoT deployments, what products they buy, and what industry they come from. The group's Adopter Members come from five continents, and from enterprises as far afield as ABB, BMW, Coca-Cola, DHL, GE, Saudi Aramco, Siemens Healthcare, Tata Group, the US Department of Defense, and Wal-Mart.
Initial recruitment efforts have concentrated on IoT vertical markets of energy, healthcare, and logistics – with content published for each market – but the IMC will soon expand into smart cities, retail, and building & construction. "Plans call for us to conduct quantitative research among our Adopter Members, and use that to create a business curriculum for the IoT, complete with best practices and a certification programme," says Kreisher.
Funding for the IMC is provided by its Sustaining Members – some of the most influential solutions providers in IoT, offering connectivity services, embedded hardware, communications software, and systems integration globally. Kreisher points out that the IMC's Sustaining Members gain exclusive, direct access to its communities of Adopters, establish important channel relationships through the organisation, and are already considered thought leaders in the IoT sector.
