IoT Services in a Post-COVID-19 World: An Update

K. Weldon

• Operators and other suppliers may have difficulty this year selling IoT deals to new customers or expanding existing projects. IoT deals are often complex, and economic realities due to the COVID-19 pandemic may make it difficult for businesses to justify the expense, especially if they are in hard-hit verticals such as retail or hospitality.

• However, many operators note that they are doing well this year closing IoT deals. They have also launched services that help detect and prevent COVID-19. Which of these may last in a post-pandemic world?

Has COVID-19 Been Bad for the IoT Market?

IoT services budgets (and analyst market forecasts) have been tamped down in 2020 due to the premise that operators and other suppliers may have difficulty this year selling IoT deals to new customers or expanding existing projects. IoT deals are often complex, and economic realities due to the COVID-19 pandemic may make it difficult for businesses to justify the expense, making the job of selling these solutions harder as well. Certainly in some segments especially hard hit by the pandemic such as retail, sports stadiums, hospitality, transportation, ports, airports, and energy, it may be difficult for companies to imagine trialing and paying for a new potentially complex technology solution. IoT deployments may require hardware, software, connectivity services, edge computing, security solutions, and use of management platforms, often bought from multiple members of a fragmented supplier ecosystem. It was hard enough to justify all of these investments before the pandemic. Yet the hype surrounding 5G and its ability to support massive numbers of IoT connections, ultra low latency and high bandwidth has made it seem that 2021 will be a banner year for IoT. However, it seems more likely that 2021 will be focused on tactical solutions, rather than wholesale IoT-led transformation. In addition, the benefits of 5G and edge computing may not be reaped for several more years.

SD-WAN for Homeworkers: Prohibitively Expensive or a Realistic Option?

G. Barton

Summary Bullets:

• Homeworking has changed the dynamic for SD-WAN, which usually relies on physical or virtualized CPE at the corporate site, but options are available for those working from home.
• Hardware-based solutions for homeworkers are falling in price, but may only be suitable for ‘power users.’

A growing number of SD-WAN technology vendors and network service providers (SPs) have either launched or have stated that they are developing SD-WAN solutions for homeworkers.  These usually come in two forms: small form-factor SD-WAN routers or software clients.