Canadian businesses are staring to invest in and deploy the Internet of Things (IoT) — the connecting of physical objects through online infrastructure. Rogers Communications is positioning itself as a service provider in the space to help those companies that can’t develop and manage an IoT infrastructure on their own.
Rogers announced last week that it will be the first telecom company in Canada to offer IoT solutions as a service thanks to a partnership with Kitchener, Ont.-based BlueRover. Instead of selling individual products, Rogers will now help companies identify IoT opportunities and manage the technical side for them.
At launch, Rogers and BlueRover are targeting the farming industry with technology that can monitor connected farming equipment, as well as businesses that require fluid resource level management (tracking resources such as grains, water and waste material, for example).
“We’re making it really simple for our customers by having Rogers looking after the technology and releasing those resources for our customers so they can focus on innovation and better serving their own customers adds a lot of value to them,” said Ignacio Paz, the general manager of IoT for Rogers.
According to research conducted by IDC Canada, more than 45% of Canadian organizations are deploying some form of IoT solutions, and the market is expected to reach $13.5 billion in value by 2019.
When it comes to deploying solutions, Paz said Canadian businesses need to be careful that they are actually deploying the technology to help solve a real customer problem rather than trying to keep up with popular, buzz-worthy technology.
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“Focus on what customers really need and what they’re struggling with,” he said. “If they really want to develop the technology, it’s got to be disruptive in the marketplace.”
Paz added that the same is also true when it comes to deploying IoT for marketing purposes.
“We all know that providing personalized and tailored experiences to consumers is what every company needs to win within their marketplace,” he said. “IoT solutions can help those companies identify consumers and to better engage them.”
Paz added that Thursday’s announcement was just the first of many coming from the Rogers IoT unit in the near future.
