Review of the latest technology Machine-to-Machine(M2M)

M2M: A review of the latest technology that is transforming businesses 

• Machine-to-machine communication, or M2M, is exactly as it sounds: two machines“communicating,”r exchanging data, without human interfacing or interaction. As businesses have realized the value of M2M, it has taken on a new name: the Internet of Things (IoT) 
• IoT and M2M have similar promises: to fundamentally change the way the world operates. Just like IoT, M2M allows virtually any sensor to communicate, which opens up the possibility of systems monitoring themselves and automatically responding to changes in the environment, with a much-reduced need for human involvement. 
• M2M and IoT are almost synonymous—the exception is IoT (the newer term) typically refers to wireless communications, whereas M2M can refer to any two machines—wired or wireless— communicating with one another.

M2M technology is transforming businesses

·       Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications allow businesses to transfer data from one device to another. This complex technology has taken the business world by storm, helping companies to improve operational and management efficiency across the board.

·      While M2M is still in its infancy, the expanding industry is already having an impact across a variety of sectors that are investing heavily in this technology, including transportation, industrial production, healthcare, automotive manufacturing and government.

·    As the popularity of this technology continues to soar within the business community, more companies are deploying M2M communications to help boost their employees’ productivity  and efficiency during their daily activities

Several industries to reap benefits from M2M technology

·   In today’s connected world, nearly all industries can benefit from M2M technology - from large global manufacturers who want to track the status of their products, to construction, engineering and agriculture sectors that use M2M devices to monitor expensive equipment.

·      M2M is making an immediate impact in various vertical industries today. For example, shipment companies are using this technology to track expensive cargo throughout its journey, such as high-value seafood. In this instance, the containers are fitted with an M2M device to monitor location and temperature - ensuring that the company engineers are able to take immediate action if a refrigeration problem does occur along the route.

·    Similarly, expensive machinery such as tractors and cranes are often fitted with M2M devices to track and monitor location, as well as collect data on the performance of the machinery to help the manufacturer eliminate inefficiencies found in the current models when developing new products.

·   These tools also offer manufacturers an opportunity to up sell additional services, such as a preventative maintenance service. By collecting data from the inbuilt M2M devices, manufacturers are able to identify any underlying issues in the machine’s performance - this not only diminishes the number of breakdowns but it also means that technicians spend less time diagnosing the problem.

·      The automotive sector has also uncovered the benefits associated with M2M communications, resulting in a new generation of wirelessly connected vehicles that are able to carry out activities such as remote engine diagnostics, automatic downloading of system upgrades, and permitting vehicle owners to receive navigation and traffic information.

Why M2M technology has taken years to develop

·      To the outside world, the M2M industry is perceived as fragmented and siloed. This is because M2M solutions are specific to each industry; therefore it is extremely difficult to develop a uniform solution to fit all the individuals’ needs of each vertical industry.

·     On most occasions, M2M solution providers need to develop a customized solution to fit the requirements of that specific market. This has meant that historically there are high entry costs, in turn discouraging some organizations from deploying M2M solutions.

Already increased demand in M2M technology

·     The market has grown exponentially over the last few years, with the GSM Association predicting that global M2M connections will grow from 5 billion in 2014 to 27 billion in 2024.

·     AT&T’s M2M business customers have tripled in the past year with 17.23 million connected devices on its network

M2M technology in the next five year

• The next five years will see a sharp increase in M2M revenues. According to global analyst firm, Ovum, the M2M market is set to treble over the next few years with M2M service revenues set to grow to $44.8bn in 2018, from the $13.6bn figure recorded in 2012. By 2019, three key industry verticals will invest heavily in the technology: energy & utilities, healthcare and manufacturing.

Recent M2M trends

• An increasingly large number of enterprises are paying more attention to security as opposed to just ROI and financial figures. There is also a growing demand for big data analysis.
• Organizations want to use this data to enable them to achieve better business results and subsequently, M2M devices are playing a key role in this data mining process.
• More and more organizations are becoming key market participants with various automotive manufacturers. For example, GE is providing M2M solutions for their customers;