HPE Touts New Mobile Virtual Network Enabler IoT Tool As The First To Provide Global WAN Connectivity

HPE said it is helping connect and manage the Internet of Things (IoT with a new global WAN connectivity product. HPE unveiled the mobile virtual network enabler on Wednesday to help its system integrator partners efficiently deploy large-scale, connected solutions.

"We're enabling connectivity on a global footprint, and we're enabling it at a price point that is ultra-competitive," said Jeff Edlund, CTO Communications & Media Solutions for HPE. "If you look at HPE's channel as a whole, and the access we have globally to enterprises, and the partnerships we have in place with OEMs and VARs, we feel it’s a winning value proposition for everybody."

HPE said its mobile virtual network enabler helps partners pass over the mess of multiple service providers, products and regulatory rules at the global level by handling provisioning, configuration, administration and billing tasks, paired with wide area network (WAN) operator coverage.

[Related: Amazon Web Service Partners Want More IoT Details At AWS Re:Invent]

The company's new product, which partners can buy and use as a service, gives large enterprises greater control over Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)-based IoT devices that need cellular connectivity and services.

"Nobody is providing a WAN connectivity product that has a global footprint," Edlund said. "If partners attempt to go and have a relationship with each carrier, in every geography they operate in, it's a huge mess. We manage the enabler on the back end, provide them with a single rate card, and provide them with a consistent level of service all across the globe."

HPE hopes the Mobile Virtual Network Enabler will also enable new, specialized IoT Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) to resell IoT connectivity directly to customers at price points optimized for large scale deployments.

Edlund told CRN that channel partners have the ability to double the size of their business with the new HPE-Aruba's IoT solutions.

"People can essentially radically change the revenue models associated with their business," said Edlund. "As I look at this opportunity, just IoT and MVNE alone could double the size of my business -- just with those two opportunities -- in less than three years. The economic impact to those partners who embrace the IoT opportunity could be huge."

HPE said that there is an "emerging channel program" surrounding its mobile virtual network enabler, including large system integrator partners like Identidad, which uses the HPE Universal IoT Platform to deliver IoT products and services for its enterprise, small and medium business and telecommunications customers, and Tata Consultancy Services.

Resellers are interested in HPE's IoT offerings – but are still waiting to hear more about how the broader channel plays into the company's strategy.

"There isn't a clear opportunity for partners at this point … everything I have seen so far seems geared more toward integrators and carriers," said David Felton, owner of partner Canaan Technology in Norwalk, Conn. "I would like to hear more about HPE's future IoT directive as it relates to enterprise partners."

HPE also announced it has added enhancements to its HPE Universal IoT platform Wednesday, which will manage the mobile virtual network enabler devices and provide IoT monitoring, reporting and analytics services with carrier-grade reliability and scale.

HPE has enhanced its platform to increase LoRa support, so it now has greater flexibility as the market evolves with support for LoRa gateways from different vendors. In addition, the platform now delivers plug-and-play interoperatilibity for services and devices in multiple verticals and expanded device management.

The platform supports long-range, low-power connectivity deployments such as LoRa and Sigfox, as well as devices that use cellular, radio, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.