Shortly after IBM was named a leader in IoT software platforms by ‘The Forrester WaveTM: IoT Software Platforms, Q4 2016’, the tech giant announced an array of new services, industry offerings and capabilities to help enterprise clients, start-ups and developers embrace digital transformation with the Internet of Things (IoT).
With the number of connected devices skyrocketing, it comes as a move by IBM to make IoT accessible to millions around the world. It aims to do so by the launch of its new Watson IoT Consulting Solutions for which IBM would dedicate more than 1500 industry experts across IBM Watson IoT headquarters in Munich, Germany and in eight other IBM IoT centres across Asia, Europe and the Americas.. It is also giving open and free access to its Watson IoT Platform.
“The Internet of Things is making an enormous impact on our lives and helping to spur even deeper levels of innovation for those developing the connected devices and products of our future,” said Harriet Green, General Manager, IBM Watson IoT, Commerce and Education. “IBM is helping knock down the barriers to getting started with IoT, making it accessible for clients as they begin their digital transformation.”
By integrating IBM Watson IoT Platform APIs and technologies, including cognitive, analytics, mobile, security and cloud capabilities, together with development and implementation consulting and ongoing support, clients can fully use the IoT without the risk and complexity of dealing with multiple vendors.
“Clients can now easily introduce IoT innovation into their business by leveraging IBM’s industry and technical expertise to deliver lower risk, as-a-service commercial models. We are very proud our integrated IoT solutions deliver innovation in an easy to consume model for business leaders,” said Jesus Mantas, General Manager, Business Consulting, IBM. “We are helping clients accelerate the digitization of their business processes by making it easy to deploy IoT solutions globally into their business”.
It will employ a global network of skilled consultants, data scientists and design and security experts with deep domain and industry expertise. The priority industries include automotive, electronics, industrial products, insurance, retail, telecommunications, transportation and buildings.
Using IBM Watson IoT for Manufacturing, business would ensure better management of factory equipment and assets, improving manufacturing processes and manage production resources more effectively.
IBM is already working with over 50,000 developers around the globe to help them to get up and running on the IBM Watson IoT Platform.
Also, just seven months ago, IBM teamed up with Coursera, the education platform that partners with top global universities and organizations to offer online courses, to create and launch “A developer’s guide to the IoT,” a course that already has more than 22,000 registrants. The IoT learning tutorials would be available on Watson IoT Academy. These tutorials, led by IBM subject matter experts, include an introduction to programming a Raspberry Pi; how to use Natural Language Processing; and how to use Node-RED, the open source visual programming tool set that is becoming a standard for building connected IoT programs.
