How VARs Can Make Money On The Internet Of Things

Andres Sintes
Andres Sintes

Although the Internet of Things (IoT) market has yet to reach its full potential, which the networking giant Cisco estimates to be around $19 trillion in the next 10 years, solution providers are already struggling to discover where to invest and how to prepare in order capitalize on this relatively new market.

Customers are seeking VARs who can use IoT to make them more energy efficient, manage and store the most data, and run a highly capable wireless network. If VARs want to make money they should begin preparing their companies to be fully integrated in the worlds of Operational Technology (OT) and IT through new partnerships, say industry experts.

Analysts say VARs will make money in the IoT markets in the same way they've done in previous technology areas, by integrating various components from a variety of vendors to develop and deliver specialized solutions to meet the industry needs or to solve a particular business issue.

Setting your company up for IoT success starts with finding the right partners inside and outside of the IT landscape.

A good example of how to profit from IoT comes from Zones Inc., No. 31 on CRN's SP500 list, a Microsoft, HP, Cisco and Dell partner.

Zones is able to greatly reduce  energy consumption in customers' buildings – even reducing one customer's energy consumption by half – from $4 million to $2 million in the course of one year thanks to IoT sensors, wireless technologies and data analysis.

"We put in these sensors and monitors, captured data coming out of units, analyzed it and found out where inefficiencies were in order to correct them to save on energy consumption," said Stephen Lurie, senior director of IoT solutions at Zones. "IoT is the foundation of Internet of Data because of these sensors talking, it's creating more data that can proactivity be used to reduce energy. Data needs to be stored somewhere and be analyzed, so we're starting to see opportunities around storage as well."
 

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