Submitted by Larry Bellehumeur on 

One of the interesting development in the world of M2M solutions is the focus on verticalized solutions.  There are solutions that will fit any one of dozens different vertical markets perfectly.  This brings up a problem.....how do you remember what solution to sell to your customers when you cover many different vertical markets?   This fragmented approach has often intimidated many salespeople/customers, likely hurting the growth of M2M in the process.  What is needed is to find an approach that is more universal, one that would apply whether the customer is in the Oil patch, finance space, agriculture or a retail store.  Once the customer has interest in the "concept" of an M2M solution, this allows for more customized approaches to be used.

Here is a good analogy to explain what I am talking about.  Millions of people in the world use smartphones, most of which are based on one of three platforms (IOS, Android or Blackberry).  The same smartphone can be sold to many different users in different vertical markets, as it offers functionality that most people can use (voice services, messaging, email, etc).  What allows the phone to be differentiated across the different markets are some specialized applications that are sold.  So, while using the same smartphone, a stock trader will use an app to analyze stocks for a possible trade, a farmer will look at charts showing rain projections to know what seed to plant and a doctor will look up a patient's medical history to best know how to treat an illness.  The overall platform did not change, but the end-user application did.  The cellular salesperson is able to position common features of the solution (in this case, common uses of a smartphone), as well as mention to the customer how it may be used for other things specific to them (even though they don't need to know the specifics).  Consumer platforms such as the Apple Appstore and the Android market have made this simple to find the specific app to meet your needs.

This "General first, specific later" approach is one of the cornerstones to Novotech's success, and helps differentiate us in the industry.  One example of this is the monitoring side of M2M.  For many people, this can be very daunting to sell, as there are many variables (different connectors, different protocols, different devices, etc).  If you looked at it that way, sure, it is very complicated.  But, how about if you stripped out the specifics?

People understand what it means to monitor....things like a thermometer by the window of their home to tell them what to wear, the tank level on their barbeque to know if you have enough fuel for your mean and the gas gauge on your vehicle to know that you have enough fuel to get home are all ways for you to monitor the level of something and make an informed decision.   Whether you are monitoring something commonly used in every day life (a tank, thermometer, etc) or a very complex system (like many systems used in the business world), the concept is still the same.....providing you information when you need it to make informed decisions.  How complex the solution may be (variables such as different ports, technologies, etc) really don't change the fact that monitoring something happens all day in our everyday lives and most of us understand it.

At Novotech, our philosophy is to make the complex simple.  Whether you are a salesperson looking to sell a solution to a customer or you are a business looking to find ways to "monitor" something, let us know how we can help.  We have complete turn-key solutions (or just parts of it to complete your solution) to make this all work.  We can do the "specific" part to find a solution to a "general" need that you have.