Editor’s note: John Spooner is Director, Internet of Things (IoT) and Devices Practice at Technology Business Research.

HAMPTON, N.H. – AWS is reinventing its Internet of Things (IoT) suite, and addressing a number of shortcomings, with a one-year anniversary buildout of suite of IoT capabilities. The company, which leveraged its leadership position in Cloud to begin monetizing IoT in December 2015, used its 2016 re:Invent conference to unveil a series of network edge and services-oriented partnerships and add-ons, such as AWS Greengrass.

TBR believes that AWS, like cloud competitors such as Google Cloud, has historically viewed IoT as a Cloud workload. The opportunity presented by the combination of the number of potential device or sensor connections, coupled with the amount of data to be stored, coupled with the potential to apply analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, represent a collective significant net new business opportunity.

TBR believes that AWS was successful in gaining numerous IoT customers with the first round of its IoT offering. However, the need for a number of items AWS has historically eschewed offering directly, including edge-based device management and analytics, as well as business consulting and implementation services, have prevented AWS from maximizing its potential.

TBR believes that, given the broader move toward hybrid IoT implementation models, which utilize edge and centralized device management, compute, storage and analytics, missing Edge capabilities were the single biggest hold back for net-new customers considering AWS for IoT.

AWS’ December 2016 IoT reinvention addressed these shortcomings with an AWS IoT Competency partner program oriented at providing customers with AWS-approved edge and consulting/implementation capabilities from the likes of Accenture, along with IoT platform compatibility with PTC and C3IoT. TBR believes the program is a first step in an ongoing play for AWS to strengthen its position relative to IoT competitors, including Azure; industrial plays such as GE, Bosch and Siemens; and IT incumbents, such as IBM, Oracle and SAP.

All of these potential competitors have existing roots in enterprise or industrial verticals. The new services and partners allow AWS IoT to address edge and consulting as well deliver a more vertical/use case focus, going forward, based on the program structure. The tie-up with PTC, for one, provides more manufacturing coverage, thanks to PTC’s ThingWorx.

When it comes to expanding the IoT capabilities of existing customers or landing large, net new customers, AWS will aim to bring its broader partner web to bear to pair its cloud and IoT platforms with broad partner support to fill gaps at the edge and specialized ISVs to answer vertical specialization.

TBR believes the new partnership program will help AWS begin to bring its overall IoT capability more into line with competitors, who have also partnered broadly to fill portfolio gaps. In the past, the AWS’s IoT suite required customers to do development and integration work on their own, such as implementing the AWS IoT suite to their ecosystem, as well as matching it with the proper AWS Cloud services for data storage, analytics and security.

Enhanced relationships, generated through the new partnership program, such as with Accenture, promise customers the ability to work with a third-party expert in IoT consulting, implementation and technology.

(C) TBR