Why Partnering In The Internet Of Things Makes Sense -- And Money

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At the recent Xively Xperience 2015 conference, the focus was all on how to profit from the futuristic Internet of Things technologies. During a panel discussion on the subject, Albany, N.Y.-based Twin Technologies’ CEO Ben Elmer pointed out that the decision to partner is one of the most crucial steps toward making real money from IoT products and services.

Elmer’s company is a strategic partner of Xively (the IoT branch of Boston-based LogMeIn), and he recognized that while there are benefits to "owning" a solution end to end, logistically it often does not make sense.

’Connected is all about the experience that the final customer is going to have with your product,’ Elmer said.

Elmer said companies in IoT often end up developing just one or two components of a technology, and choosing the right partner to complete the solution is incredibly important to the end product.

’How do I find the person that completes that experience, because the customers aren’t going to look at you as a brand and say, ’All right, this one step is great.’ They’re going to say, ’I want to enhance this experience completely,’’ he explained. ’And if anywhere along the way there is friction, I’m going to abandon [the product].’

’Sometimes your brand is playing a part of that brand promise,’ Elmer recommended to vendors.

PUBLISHED OCT. 8, 2015