Expert Views

Published on Jul 09, 2015

Crisp Vendor Universe: IoT-Backend Providers

The Internet of Things (IoT) is following cloud computing as the next megatrend, making sure that IT concepts as well as processes face a sustainable change. Industrial enterprises become smart factories, driven by new mechanisms and sensors that lead to connected and optimized value chains. Today’s “smart connected economy” forces decision makers to change their portfolios fundamentally. Therefore, CIOs and technology professionals are looking for ways and technologies as a foundation to support their strategies.

Dynamic growth, short innovation, product release cycles and new players entering the scene can characterize emerging markets. So does the IoT market. The current market is shaped by a growing number of IoT tools, services and platforms. However, CEOs and CIOs who enter the market need to understand the technology and provider landscape in order to identify the right IoT backend platform that fits their requirements to run sophisticated IoT workloads.

Supporting decision makers and technology professionals with their vendor evaluation, Crisp Research introduces the “Crisp Vendor Universe” covering “IoT Backend Providers”.

Selection Criteria

IoT Backend Providers within this vendor comparison need to exhibit the following criteria:

  • Operates its own data center- / IT infrastructure to run IoT workloads
  • Offers portfolio of various compute, storage, database and analytics services as well as microservices e.g. machine learning and other higher-level services that support the development and operations of IoT workloads
  • Ensures service availability within EMEA market
  • Existing customer base with IoT workloads

What are key characteristics of IoT Backend Providers?

  • Cloud platform with granular IaaS and PaaS services
  • Microservices for development, testing and operations of IoT workloads
  • High scalability and multiple data center locations
  • Support for agile development and business procedures (e.g. DevOps, Continuous Delivery)
  • Support for different connectivity and security strategies

IoT-Stack_EN_Backend

Evaluation Criteria

Crisp Research has defined two categories covering the product capabilities as well as the vendor performance including five sub-categories each. The detailed methodology will be described in the final report.

Product Value Creation

  • Features
  • Product Experience
  • Integration
  • Economics
  • Disruption Potential

Vendor Performance

  • Strategy
  • Footprint
  • Ecosystem
  • Customer Experience
  • Agility

Research Timeline

The whole evaluation process is based on a variety of primary and secondary analysis. The research process has started end of June 2015. The final report will be published by end of Q3 2015.