Swedish telecoms vendor Ericsson has added PTC’s Thingworx platform, offering tools for developing industrial ‘internet of things’ (IoT) and augmented reality (AR) services, to its cloud-based IoT Accelerator platform, designed to make it easier for developers to launch IoT applications. It is the latest move by a senior brand in the telecoms and networking space to ease the growing pains of the nascent IoT market.
Massachusetts-based PTC’s ThingWorx comprises a platform and a set of solutions for companies to design, manufacture, and operate IoT services in industrial sectors; it is used by around 300,000 developers.
Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator now includes ThingWorx Foundation, a modelling environment for IoT app development, and ThingWorx Studio, a tool for industrial enterprises to rapidly create scalable AR experiences.
Ericsson head of IoT Jeff Travers commented: “A collaborative ecosystem is key to IoT development and increasing cellular IoT adoption. We look forward to continuing to work with PTC to make it easier and faster to launch IoT services.”
Ericsson’s IoT Accelerator provides a catalogue of recommended tools and technologies for IoT developers. Service providers have an opportunity to move up the ‘value chain’ in the IoT stack, from being a supplier to being a partner in digital transformation, according to Ericsson. Ericsson IoT Accelerator simplifies the creation and rollout of IoT solutions that use cellular connectivity.
Travers described it in a wide-ranging interview with Enterprise IoT Insights in April as a “stepping-stone to make 5G a reality” by enabling massive adoption of massive IoT. “It will unlock the potential for different players in the value chain to deliver value,” he said.
The addition of ThingWorx fortifies its offer of technical support, covering rapid app development through to monetisation and security services. Kari Terho, head of smart factory management Finland-based telecoms operator Elisa’s industrial IoT division, said: “The collaboration is very complementary given Ericsson’s strengths in handling connectivity at scale and PTC’s rapid application enablement platform.
Established brands in cross-over technology markets, eager to capitalise on the IoT opportunity, are seeking to make low-power wide-area (LPWA) technologies and solutions more accessible to enterprises, often with little experience of connecting their assets.
US carrier Verizon introduced a new IoT programme, ThingSpace Ready, this week to help module makers build, certify and manage IoT devices. At Hannover Messe in April, US networking company Cisco showed solutions to simplify deployment and management of industrial IoT solutions by addressing challenges with complexity, interoperability and security.
