2018 Internet Of Things 50: 15 Coolest IoT Software And Services Companies

Top Players In Software And Services For IoT

The Internet of Things is about more than just devices and sensors. At the heart of it, IoT is about data -- with the data generation being just the first step. To fully reap the benefits of IoT, the data needs to be collected, managed and analyzed -- and transmitted over reliable networks, too. An array of vendors is now offering software products and services to help enable next-generation uses of IoT data, with the help of IoT-savvy solution providers.

What follows are 15 vendors with the coolest IoT software and services offerings right now.

Actility

Top Executive: Mike Mulica, CEO

France-based Actility offers a simplified approach to meeting the unique networking needs of IoT. The company's Low Power Wide Area Networking platform enables end-to-end solutions -- comprising the device, connectivity and application -- for a range of end-user IoT applications across numerous verticals.

Amazon Web Services

Top Executive: Andy Jassy, CEO

AWS offers a managed cloud platform for IoT, AWS IoT Core, that enables devices to connect both with cloud applications and with other devices. Other IoT services from Seattle-based AWS include Greengrass, which allows IoT data to be processed even when connectivity to the cloud is unavailable.

AT&T

Top Executive: Randall Stephenson, Chairman, President, CEO

The AT&T Control Center offers management for connected devices and IoT solutions with capabilities including multi-layered security, usage monitoring and automation of operations. Dallas-based AT&T also provides enhanced service reliability through diagnostics, analytics, and alerts for responding to unusual behavior.

Ayla Networks

Top Executive: David Friedman, Co-Founder, CEO

The Agile IoT Platform from Santa Clara, Calif.-based Ayla Networks is a comprehensive offering for connecting devices to the cloud and applications, with components including embedded agents (incorporating an optimized network stack), cloud services and application libraries.

Davra Networks

Top Executive: Paul Glynn, CEO

The RuBAN platform from Ireland-based Davra Networks serves as an application enablement platform for IoT deployments, providing a method for making complex sensor and network data available in a usable, easy-to-understand format. Key features include life-cycle management for IoT gateways and sensors.

Evrythng

Top Executive: Niall Murphy, Co-Founder, CEO

New York-based Evrythng is the creator of an IoT platform that helps enterprises manage smart products by giving each product a digital identity in the cloud during manufacturing. Partnerships with packaging companies allow the products to be tracked through the supply chain.

IBM

Top Executive: Ginni Rometty, Chairman, President, CEO

IBM's Watson IoT Platform delivers specialized offerings for businesses across verticals including automotive, electronics and manufacturing. Integrated solutions offered through the platform include asset management and facilities management. Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM also provides IoT tools and services for developers via the platform.

IGEL

Top Executive: Jed Ayres, CEO, North America

IGEL's endpoint management software, Universal Management Suite, simplifies the management of connected devices across a range of industry verticals. Germany-based IGEL has released support for Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, combining the platform's advanced security features with IGEL's endpoint management software.

IoTium

Top Executive: Ron Victor, CEO

For operations seeking remote connectivity -- securely and at a large scale -- IoTium's Network-as-a-Service solution uses software-defined networking to solve connectivity issues. The solution from the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company connects legacy on-site systems to cloud-based applications for enabling improvements to efficiency, preventative maintenance and specialized analytics.

Mocana

Top Executive: William Diotte, CEO

San Francisco-based Mocana offers an IoT platform for securing communications between connected devices and the cloud. The platform uses military-grade cryptographic software to ensure that devices are trustworthy, and provides visibility and control across devices, gateways and cloud apps.

Oracle

Top Executives: Safra Catz, Mark Hurd, Co-CEOs

Oracle's IoT Cloud offers services such as real-time asset tracking using IoT data and analytics. The Redwood City, Calif.-based company also enables faster time to market for customers using connected device data, along with predictive maintenance and enterprise-grade security and scalability for IoT applications.

PTC

Top Executive: James Heppelmann, CEO

Needham, Mass.-based PTC is the company behind ThingWorx, a platform that enables rapid development of IoT applications. ThingWorx provides connectivity for devices, clouds and applications, while offering a purpose-built platform for the simplified creation, testing and deployment of IoT applications.

Rigado

Top Executive: Ben Corrado, CEO

Rigado's highly customizable IoT gateway offerings provide a range of wireless protocols, edge compute and connectivity options to choose from. Portland, Ore.-based Rigado also recently introduced a new connectivity suite to help channel partners rapidly prototype Bluetooth 5 IoT solutions.

SAP

Top Executive: Bill McDermott, CEO

Germany-based SAP's HANA cloud platform serves as an in-memory IoT platform for the development, deployment and management of IoT applications. The platform offers capabilities ranging from location services to management of remote devices, and ultimately can be used to provide automation of core processes and edge connectivity.

Verizon

Top Executive: Lowell McAdam, CEO

ThingSpace, from Basking Ridge, N.J.-based Verizon, is a web-based IoT application development platform aimed at offering a simplified process for developers. ThingSpace provides a self-service interface, APIs, developer kits, tutorials and tools for management and marketing of IoT solutions.