Phani Pandrangi - The 5 Ecosystem Partners You Need in Your Address Book. Kii

IoT Forum 2015 | March 11-12, 2015 | Cambridge (UK)

The Ecosystem Partners You Need

To Build A Successful IoT Business

PHANI PANDRANGI CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER

First – an overview of IoT

solution types

Then – decisions you make

while building your IoT solution

and business

Finally – key ecosystem

partners you need to be

successful

This Session

@phanipandrangi

About me

[email protected]

Chief Product Officer

18 Years In Product Management & Development

San Francisco Bay Area

UC Berkeley (MBA), Oregon State (MS Comp Sci)

Founded in 2007 after MBO

from Nokia

HQ in Tokyo with offices in

Silicon Valley, China,

Taiwan, Hong Kong, Spain

Extensive ecosystem

partners in Asia and beyond

Who is Kii?

provides an end-to-end platform to device (“thing”)

manufacturers, app developers, carriers and enterprises to

deliver Internet of Things (IoT) solutions

Typical IoT Solution

Thing

Service

App

A device with

sensors, connectivity

etc.

Interface to users

Service backing the

solution

Wi-Fi Camera

Cloud DVR

Camera App

Example

Smart Devices,

Services And Apps

Open Smart Device

Platforms

Interoperable Smart

Devices

1 2 3

Types of IoT Solutions

Smart Devices,

Services And Apps

1

Device manufacturer

creates smart,

connected things

and solutions.

b

a

c

Device manufacturer

opens APIs of the

device to enable 3rd

party apps and

services

Open Smart Device

Platforms

2

Third party app or service developer

1. Get device kit for the

open device

2. Use device APIs along

with other Kii APIs

3. Create apps and

services

a

Device manufacturer

opens APIs of the

device to enable 3rd

party apps and

services

Open Smart Device

Platforms

2

Third party

app or

service

developer

1. Device manufacturer

exposes data collected

thru devices to third

parties

2. Third parties use APIs to

consume data

b

APIs to

expose

device data

… …

Interoperable Smart

Device

3

Device manufacturer

wants to smart

devices and services

that can interoperate

with other devices

and their services

a

b

Interoperability via Cloud

Interoperability

logic in the

cloud as

server

extension

Proximal Interoperability

Gateway/HubInteroperability

Logic

• Semiconductor

• ODM/EMS

• Operating

System

• Standards

• Connectivity

• Platform

• Protocols

• Data Center

• Standards

• Operating

System

• App Store

• App DevelopersEach of these has

an impact on the

overall success of

the IoT solution …

Decisions … Decisions …

…

:

: … and this is all

just in the building

phase!

There’s more …

More Decisions … Y

ou

r Io

TS

olu

tio

n

Go To Market

Monetization

• Is there a channel?

• Direct sales?

• Put on Kickstarter and pray?

• Retail? Wholesale?

• OEM?

• Geographical approaches?

• Device priced or free?

• Subscription or one-time?

• How to get subscribers?

• Geographical approaches?

Ecosystem Partner # 1

Platform

Libraries or agents that run in firmware to establish bi-

directional communication between the device and the cloud

Cloud enable

your devices

Device Management Services help you manage the

device configuration, updates and firmware remotely

Remotely

manage device

deployments

Create services

and apps for your

devices

Backend Services help you create scalable, performant,

cloud backed mobile/web apps for your device use cases

Analyze and

Optimize device

services

Analytics and Optimization Services help you analyze

and optimize your device based services

1

2

3

4

What You Need From The Platform

Send Data & Events

Receive Config

Receive Notifications

OnboardingAgents

Analytics

KPIs

A/B Testing

DashboardsAnalytics

Device Management User Management

Data Management

Push Notifications

Geo Locations

Server Extensions

Core Backend

APIs Portal

Remote Device

Management

Backend Management

Analytics & Dashboards

An Example Of An IoT Platform

Platform Characteristics

Any Type of

DeploymentAny Hardware/Firmware

Public Cloud

Dedicated Cloud

Private Cloud

Any Chip

Any OS

RTOS

Any Use Case

Direct/Paired/Gatewa

y connect devices

Open Platform

Interoperability

Scales

Few devices to

millions

Open

Integrates with

other

services/things

Ecosystem Partner # 2

Manufacturing

You can design and build

the solution but …

Know someone here?

Who will

manufacture the

prototype units?

Who’s will

manufacture the

10M production

units of your

device?

Find a good Prototyping and Mass

Production partner – or let other

partners help you connect

Platform partners with ecosystem (like Kii) – or your

incubator/accelerator can potentially help.

Ecosystem Partner # 3

Distribution

• Who’s your target user?

• Who they have existing

subscription accounts with?

• Can your IoT solution be sold

thru that channel?

For many IoT scenarios (esp. Smart

Home, Smart Living etc.):

The ISP or Carrier of your target

audience could be a great channel

Advantages of having

carrier/ISP as a distribution

partner for your IoT solution

…

• Existing subscriptions, user base

• Recurring revenue

• Subscribers used to add-on services

• Multiple distribution channels – online, retail

etc.

• Vested interest in succeeding (revenue)

Ecosystem Partner # 4

Connectivity

Depending on the IoT scenario,

the connectivity partner is the

ISP or Carrier again, however

think about:

• Global Connectivity (US, JP, EU, India

etc.)

• Unified Connectivity (2G/3G/Wi-Fi/Low

Power Radio etc.)

• SIM activation and monitoring across

networks

Ecosystem Partner # 5

Developers

• What services does your solution

expose?

• Who consumes those services?

What do these 3rd party developers

build?

• How do these 3rd party developers

benefit?

• Is there a clear monetization model

for them?

• How does your IoT solution benefit

from 3rd party apps and services built

on top of it ?Y

ou

r Io

TS

olu

tio

n

Serv

ices

3rd Party

Apps

3rd Party

Services

Yo

ur

IoT

So

lutio

n

Serv

ices

3rd Party

Apps

3rd Party

Services

• Hub-app extensions

• Interoperability apps

• Cloud based integration logic

• IFTTT recipes etc.

• Great UX that you might not

have thought about

:

:

Better adoption and

engagement for your

product

Better monetization

Build

Operate

Distribute

AmplifyEcosystem

Partner # 1

Platform

Ecosystem

Partner # 3

Distribution

Ecosystem

Partner # 4

Connectivity

Ecosystem

Partner # 1

Platform

Ecosystem

Partner # 5

Developers

Ecosystem

Partner # 2

Manufacturing

Your Solution & The Key Partners

Happy To Entertain Your Curiosity …

@[email protected]

Thank you! Questions?