Evolution of IoT Sees Development of eSIMs and New Connectivity Services

Projected to reach a staggering 5.3B endpoints by 2025, the Internet of Things (IoT) market has witnessed astronomical growth in efficiency and usability, with innovative new IoT applications and IoT solutions that use software and devices being deployed today in a variety of different industries.

This has led to swelling demand from companies for IoT connectivity products like eSIMs, which is one way to overcome the connectivity challenges that companies currently face. With 78% of Beecham Research survey respondents saying they use embedded SIM cards (eSIMs) or expect to use eSIMs in the future. However, recent research from Sierra Wireless and Beecham shows there are still massive roadblocks for OEMs and other companies to adopt and scale this technology into normalized operations.

Sponsored by Sierra Wireless, the Beecham Research report has found that enterprises struggle to actualize the 'always-on' connectivity that is a necessity in the case for service providers and device OEMs where being connected is closely related to the service they offer. Beecham's report 'Business-Critical IoT Connectivity Solutions: Key Management Challenges' details a survey of enterprise IoT users and product manufacturers that identifies some of these IoT connectivity challenges. For example, of the survey respondents:

• 80% say they consider scaling IoT projects globally to be quite or very challenging,
• 78% say they consider reducing IoT project Total Ownership Cost (TOC) and Bill of Materials (BPM) costs to be quite or very challenging.
• 69% say they consider managing multiple vendors during IoT project development and deployment to be quite or very challenging.

Regarding which eSIM attributes were either quite important or very important to their business:

• 97% of the report's survey respondents said eSIMs' diagnostic tools for fast troubleshooting.
• 89% said the ability to activate eSIMs anytime, anywhere, globally.
• 87% said eSIMs end-to-end security.

Robin Duke-Woolley, founder and CEO of Beecham Research, discusses that "The Internet of Things is all about connecting to remote devices for useful data. The connection itself is crucial – no connection, no data," he continued stating, "As IoT data becomes increasingly critical to business operations, enterprises are realizing they need always-on connectivity if they want fast, reliable, and secure access to this data. eSIMs and new global IoT connectivity services help companies gain this always-on connectivity, and with it, the ability to lower IoT project costs and increase project revenues."

In response to connectivity issues, Sierra Wireless, global leaders in IoT solutions, offers customers its Smart Connectivity service. This service enables enterprises to overcome challenges with IoT connectivity, with a simple, always-on, cost-effective connectivity offering that they can rely upon for IoT project success. The service provides enterprises with access to more than 600 partner networks in more than 190 countries, allowing their IoT devices to dynamically identify and connect to the best network options in their area in real-time. In addition, Smart Connectivity features a Global Operations Center that provides constant monitoring of Sierra Wireless' geo-redundant core network to prevent service disruptions and enable maximum efficiency for users. Moreover, the unified device management platform removes complexity from tasks such as troubleshooting to provide a smooth experience that allows for time to be allocated elsewhere.

"At Sierra Wireless, we talk to customers all the time who have seen their IoT projects stalled by connectivity challenges," said Jim Ryan, SVP Partnerships, Marketing & IoT Solutions at Sierra Wireless. "We developed our Smart Connectivity and Ready to Connect offerings to simplify IoT connectivity for these customers, freeing them to focus on using IoT data to improve business outcomes."

To learn more, view the entire report here.