Just in case you’re not seeing this whole Internet of Things (IoT) “craze” as a real thing, look at how one of Germany’s largest companies is investing heavily in the space. According to reports, SAP SE has funneled $2.2 billion in products, such as washing machines and cars, that connect to the internet. SAP claims that it will invest that amount in the IoT market by the end of 2020, which is expected to reach 21 billion active connected devices in the same year.
“With billions of connected devices, we now have the potential to reshape society, the economy and the environment,” said Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP. “SAP HANA® is the data platform we knew would unlock the Internet of Things. Today SAP is making another bold investment to help our customers seize the benefits of live business. Only SAP empowers businesses to innovate from the core to the edges to the networks.”
SAP IoT, the company’s dedicated effort for everything connected, will utilize IoT solutions that apply machine learning to make sense of Big Data and integrate it with the company’s core business applications of SAP S/4HANA. SAP IoT aims to deliver solutions that will not only connect people but also the physical environment that would enable businesses to extend its reach and better serve their clients.
SAP also introduces Industry 4.0 packages that feature IoT solutions to enable customers’ digital business strategies. The company also plans on creating IoT Labs in various parts of the globe to facilitate global IoT transformation.
And to top it all off, SAP has acquired PLAT.ONE, an enterprise-grade IoT provider that simplifies the process of creating, deploying and managing complex IoT solutions. The addition of PLAT.ONE aims to accelerate the availability of key IoT capabilities in SAP HANA Cloud Platform such as such as advanced lifecycle management for IoT devices, broad device connectivity, strong IoT edge capabilities that work seamlessly with a cloud back end, end-to-end role-based security and rapid development tools for IoT applications.
IoT is huge, and continues to grow. As they say – follow the money.
Image source: PLAT.ONE
