Into the Cloud at the Touch of a Button

08.07.2021 by Daniel Kunz

Before IoT devices can send their readings to the cloud they require complex activation and authentication. An automated process now reduces the time to market of IoT solutions.

Four out of five companies in Germany (82 percent) already use cloud services, according to the Bitkom and KPMG Cloud Monitor for 2021. Good news for the Internet of Things (IoT), you might imagine. But closer scrutiny reveals a mixed picture. Only 29 percent of respondents let their IoT applications run via a public cloud. Why? One reason is the complexity of IoT. Microsoft Teams or Office 365 from the cloud can be rolled out fast across the enterprise. IoT implementation is subject to other requirements:

Different device-to-device and cloud-to-cloud protocols
High manual workload for onboarding devices
Migration problems between networks, devices and clouds

Illustration with logos of Deutsche Telekom, Amazon Web Services and 1NCE

Cooperation for a Faster Market Launch

Integrating connectivity between hardware and the cloud involves a lot of work, starting with SIM card activation and continuing with connecting the devices to a cloud platform. These preparations lengthen an IoT solution’s time to market. That is why Deutsche Telekom, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Cologne IoT specialist 1NCE have joined forces to automate the process and make it significantly simpler and faster for corporate customers.

Benefits of Zero Touch Provisioning at a Glance:

IoT ready to use: seamless, swift, and automated
Device onboarding and secure authentication by SIM card
Energy-efficient by supporting lean data protocols
Saves time and resources, facilitates faster market launch

Customized and Standardized, Scalable and Cost-Efficient

“Our customers ask for customized and at the same time standardized solutions,” said Hagen Rickmann, Director Business Customers, Telekom Deutschland, presenting the cooperation at the Telekom TechGrounds. “For that we implement the entire IoT chain, which used to be a tough task. You had to set up the network, you needed a platform for connection, and then the data had to be sent somehow or other to the IT systems and for analysis. We now combine it all, scalably and cost-effectively, and see a strong demand for the solution. With help from 1NCE we channel sensor and device data through our network and send it up to the AWS cloud.”

Automatically Activated and Registered

An automated process replaces the preliminaries that used to be required for an IoT implementation. SIM cards to connect devices are supplied pre-activated. They contain software that enables the company to use the device as soon as the SIM card is inserted. Manual activation and authentication are no longer required. They normally take up to eight weeks for thousands or even hundreds of thousands of devices. That reduces an IoT solution’s time to market from months to days. Companies also save on personnel and IT costs because no IT outlay is involved. Customers no longer need the skills in-house or to hire extra IT staff. The AWS Cloud’s unlimited scalability makes the solution futureproof.

A few examples will suffice to show that it is popular with customers:

The Munich IoT specialist PI Labs relies on the Telekom network’s reliability and availability for the emergency call function of its telematics solution for automobiles.
The Magdeburg service provider Embever reduces the time to market for its customers by means of Cloud-as-a-Module offering.
The UK hard- and software manufacturer Pycom now offers its wireless modules with global connectivity.
The Bremen startup Sharemac connects its tracking modules for the construction industry with the AWS Cloud via the Telekom network.
The Italian automotive supplier Marelli Motorsport uses the global connectivity for its telemetry products.

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Daniel Kunz

Expert Digital Marketing

Digitization and the Internet of Things are among the favourite topics of Daniel Kunz. He has been with Deutsche Telekom since 2017 and regularly writes about technology trends and many exciting topics, especially for the retail trade and the logistics industry.