It’s time for another episode of IoT Nuggets! Today we are joined by Romil Bahl, the CEO of KORE Wireless. He’s here to talk about how KORE’s IoT technology is driving the market for simple and effective GTM infrastructure and the current state of IoT.
Who is KORE Wireless?
KORE started with IoT connectivity/connectivity as a service (CaaS), which they still do, but they’ve grown broader and now do connectivity solutions and analytics – so much so that it’s actually their tagline! They are the premier IoT solution enablement platform. But this isn’t just a tech or connectivity management platform. It’s a veritable one-stop-shop across connectivity solutions and analytics to accelerate IoT solutions to market.
People Expected More from IoT Technology
The second half of the last decade was a bit disappointing for IoT professionals. In the earlier years, analysts were predicting 20-25 billion IoT devices by 2020. By 2015, nothing had been produced and the industry was stumbling. In 2017, Cisco released the news that two thirds of all proof-of-concepts and prototypes were failing. The IoT industry was having difficulty getting all of the players to integrate into a single solution.
Early in his career at KORE, Romil and Steve were tailgating at a Falcons game when Steve said that the industry needed someone to come in and be that solution integrator or provider. Those words stuck with Romil and he heard similar feelings from many of his customers. So, that’s what he’s been trying to do. Romil and his team had served over 10,000 use cases over the past 20 years, so they decided to build a company that could help customers get it done, make it work, and orchestrate the ecosystem to make it easy to adopt IoT.
Top Challenges for IoT Technology Deployment
Security, education, and integration are major challenges for many IoT companies. Interoperability and compatibility can also be challenging due to the increasing complexity with built-for-IoT networks, NBIoTs, and CAT-Ms. Some of them don’t have roaming arrangements yet so you’re limited on where can you deploy those and knowing when it’s the right time to go there. There’s also all the talk about 5G out there, and usual topics like satellite and unlicensed spectrum IoT networks. Very few solutions will end up being single connectivity; it has to be multi. You have to make a short-range thing IoT device with a long-range IoT device and it has to work and be “up” 100% of the time.
When KORE starts working with a client, they use a seven step IoT deployment process, and each of those steps has seven major deliverables. This helps explain the entire go-to-market strategy for the customer so they understand the need to accomplish all of those items before launching an end-to-end solution. When IoT solution providers try to figure it out as they go, they’ll think they’re ready to go to market, but then they’ll realize they don’t have the certificate for the networks they want to use. With KORE, you get all the information up front. KORE can assess what you already have covered, what they can do for you, and which partners to connect you with for a successful deployment.
The Future is International
Romil says he has never been more enthused about the promise of the next decade and the true international deployment potential. He believes that the 2010s were the decade of learning regional POCs and prototypes, and the 2020s will be the decade of true global deployments. Those who have persevered and stuck with IoT technology are learning what they can really do with their solutions and they’re getting ready to go global.
We will be back for the next episode of IoT Nuggets soon! In the meantime, be sure to contact Romil and his team at korewireless.com or reach out to Steve and John at BH IoT to get connected with the IoT services providers that are right for you.