News & Analysis
Comment
MClayton
App-enabled Hardware + Flexible Licensing = Intelligent Device???? Drill down ...
C VanDorne
Your "Trinity" math just doesn’t work: "App-enabled Hardware + Flexible ...
Device manufacturers' 'Holy Trinity'
Vincent Smyth
12/12/2012 12:06 PM EST
The Apple model
Revenue and profit are important to all organizations. It can sometimes be difficult for the creators of the intelligent device and apps to make money for their intellectual property. Again, using Apple as our illustration, revenue comes from both hardware sales (iPhones can be purchased online and in stores) and, increasingly so, from software - the apps purchased on iTunes. An ongoing relationship and revenue stream between the manufacturer and the customer is created as iTunes is the portal by which the app is licensed, delivered to the end user, and entitlements granted .
This sort of monetization requires flexible licensing and entitlement management - in Apple's case, that's iTunes. For other intelligent device manufacturers, this is accomplished through custom development - or more frequently nowadays - the purchase of a licensing and entitlement management solution that can be bolted on to the device's embedded software.
While Apple is the most familiar intelligent device maker, most manufacturing is heading in this direction. Intelligent devices are everywhere – cars, MRI machines, washing machines, gaming, the home.
As manufacturers start thinking and acting more like solutions providers, the new markets and revenue streams opening up to them are mind boggling. An office building that can be upgraded with the latest energy-saving power via the Internet. A washing machine that can sense a failing part and schedule maintenance before a breakdown occurs.
The emergence of the intelligent device is one of the most transformative trends since the advent of electricity. And it's the inevitable future for manufacturers who wish to remain competitive, innovative and deliver value to their customers.
-Vincent Smyth is general manager for Flexera Software’s EMEA unit.
Revenue and profit are important to all organizations. It can sometimes be difficult for the creators of the intelligent device and apps to make money for their intellectual property. Again, using Apple as our illustration, revenue comes from both hardware sales (iPhones can be purchased online and in stores) and, increasingly so, from software - the apps purchased on iTunes. An ongoing relationship and revenue stream between the manufacturer and the customer is created as iTunes is the portal by which the app is licensed, delivered to the end user, and entitlements granted .
This sort of monetization requires flexible licensing and entitlement management - in Apple's case, that's iTunes. For other intelligent device manufacturers, this is accomplished through custom development - or more frequently nowadays - the purchase of a licensing and entitlement management solution that can be bolted on to the device's embedded software.
While Apple is the most familiar intelligent device maker, most manufacturing is heading in this direction. Intelligent devices are everywhere – cars, MRI machines, washing machines, gaming, the home.
As manufacturers start thinking and acting more like solutions providers, the new markets and revenue streams opening up to them are mind boggling. An office building that can be upgraded with the latest energy-saving power via the Internet. A washing machine that can sense a failing part and schedule maintenance before a breakdown occurs.
The emergence of the intelligent device is one of the most transformative trends since the advent of electricity. And it's the inevitable future for manufacturers who wish to remain competitive, innovative and deliver value to their customers.
-Vincent Smyth is general manager for Flexera Software’s EMEA unit.
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
C VanDorne
12/13/2012 1:54 PM EST
Your "Trinity" math just doesn’t work: "App-enabled Hardware + Flexible Licensing = Intelligent Device" is an equation that states that TWO things define (or equal) ONE thing, where that other thing is NOT "Holy Trinity".
To correctly insert it one could only write: "App-enabled Hardware + Flexible Licensing = Intelligent Device = Holy Trinity" but then "Holy Trinity" is equal to either "App-enabled Hardware + Flexible Licensing" (two things), or "Intelligent Device" (one thing). In these cases your stuck with the corny imagery of something like "Dynamic Duo" or the non-meaningful "Holy Solo". Yikes!
Yet the traditional definition is mathematically sound: Father + Son + Holy Spirit = Holy Trinity, three things that define one. As such I am partial to reserving "Holy Trinity" for the literal, and actual, Holy Trinity.
Sign in to Reply
MClayton
12/14/2012 12:16 PM EST
App-enabled Hardware + Flexible Licensing = Intelligent Device???? Drill down and refine a little if you are talking about Control Systems as implied in your examples. Advanced Process Control Solutions are made up of hierarchy of software that listens to in-situ sensors (fault detection and classication, or FDC), listens to remote metrology and makes PROCESS tuning decisions if FDC says core tool is OK (adaptive control), and its core real-time tool controller uses MBC (model-based control) which can itself be tuned remotely based on new hardware or sensor upgrades extending life of the investment. My terminology is from a factory viewpoint, but many "devices" perform "processes" similar to manufacturing tools.
Sign in to Reply