FIVE WAYS TO LOWER YOUR TCO FOR IOT / M2M COPYRIGHT © 2015, AERIS COMMUNICATIONS, INC. i

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Five Ways to Lower Your Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) for ioT / M2M Deployments

Aeris White Paper

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FIVE WAYS TO LOWER YOUR TCO FOR IOT / M2M COPYRIGHT © 2015, AERIS COMMUNICATIONS, INC. ii

Table of Contents

iNVESTiNG iN iOT / M2MT 1

Find a Pricing Model That’s Right for Your Business 1

Spend Less Time Troubleshooting Devices 1

Eliminate Costly Downtime 2

Better Planning Around Device Deployment 2

Choose the Right Network Capability for Your Deployments 3

AERiS HAS THE RiGHT SOLUTiON 3

ABOUT AERiS 4

INVESTING IN IOT / M2M Investing in IoT / M2M is one of the most important decisions your company can make, and understanding how you can make the most of your time and money is critical. When you plan and deploy IoT / M2M data applications properly, you achieve a measurable impact on increasing revenue and minimizing costs.

Here are five ways to do that:

1. FIND A PRICING MODEL THAT’S RIGHT FOR YOUR BUSINESS

IoT / M2M application supply and distribution chains are very different than those for consumer handsets. For example, IoT / M2M customers require connectivity for testing and distribution without a recurring monthly cost. With Aeris, customers are able to test devices to ensure quality throughout their supply channels, without having to incur monthly recurring costs until the device is deployed commercially. At that point, the device automatically switches to a billable status that is customized to the customer’s particular business model. This is all done in an automated way based on data threshold and usage and is customizable to each customer’s unique business requirements.

Typically, major carriers do not provide custom pricing for SMBs because these businesses are not large enough to earn the carrier significant profits. In fact, the large carriers often penalize small organizations for low-count deployments. Aeris offers up-front payment models that eliminate any risk of overage charges. Furthermore, Aeris can normalize the cost of devices that have highly variable usage so the customer has control and certainty over cost without overage surprises. For businesses of all sizes, that translates to having the freedom to pursue new and emerging commercial opportunities without being hindered by network limitations or rigid rate plans and business rules.

2. SPEND LESS TIME TROUBLESHOOTING DEVICES

A good IoT / M2M partner will use a smart network with Big Data analytics to analyze device behavior patterns and identify what is normal behavior. This enables the IoT / M2M partner to proactively alert its customers when individual or groups of devices are performing outside of normal operation so that customers can more intelligently resolve issues before they impact operations or costs – or both.

Aeris’ AerPort is the industry-leading cloud-based portal for managing and controlling cellular connected machines and devices. It raises the bar for operational support by leveraging Aeris’ unique network infrastructure to deliver the deepest level of insight and control possible. Our customers report that AerPort helps them to reduce operational and cellular costs and improve the performance of their connected machines.

FIVE WAYS TO LOWER YOUR TCO FOR IOT / M2M COPYRIGHT © 2015, AERIS COMMUNICATIONS, INC. 1

AerPort customers have access to Aeris’ patent-pending crowdsourcing technology to use the crowd of machines on the network to determine whether an issue is device or network related, based on the performance of other machines in the same area. These alerting capabilities, combined with automated actions, will help companies in a variety of industries, like telematics, healthcare, and utilities to better manage costs and operations. So farmers will save money when their tractors are idle, vending machine companies know immediately if their kiosks are broken, and medical device manufacturers can offer more competitive pricing to hospitals because data usage is more carefully controlled.

3. ELiMiNATE COSTLY DOWNTiME

if your ioT / M2M devices are mobile, they will inevitably move through areas where cellular signals are intermittent, weak, or non-existent with traditional carriers. This interruption can not only prolong time to completion but also the accuracy of the task. For fleet deployments or others dependent on GPS, one incident can be costly; regular interruptions will have a significant impact on the bottom and top line.

if you have mobile devices and work with a traditional carrier for cellular service, these interruptions will happen. Traditional carriers optimize their cellular coverage based on their cost of delivery and they always prefer to leverage their own towers, even if the coverage they provide is weak or intermittent. Aeris is the only ioT / M2M company that is “carrier-agnostic” and will automatically connect your device to the carrier with the strongest signal, no matter how remote the location. PeopleNet Communications, for example, chose Aeris for this service and immediately reduced the latency for its customer’s trucks to connect to the network.

4. BETTER PLANNiNG AROUND DEViCE DEPLOYMENT

When planning your cellular ioT / M2M deployment, it’s smart to consider the average lifespan of a device. Given how quickly things change for cellular technology, you will undoubtedly need to update and/or replace any number of devices. But this begs more questions than it answers. How will updates get done? Who will touch the device? if the end-user is to update the device, does the hardware design need to be simplified? Is it financially practical for a company to send service technicians to swap out replacement units? And if so, how will that impact the cost of the hardware or annual fees? Lastly, you must consider device’s end-of-life. How will it be shut off or removed?

Let’s consider a security company with residential and commercial security systems across the east coast of the US that recently changed its products from wired devices to cellular. This transition made it possible for the company to offer a broader range of services in addition to security, like operation of HVAC systems, appliances, and more. it was also able to offer homeowners the ability to monitor and adjust residential security settings from anywhere, at any time. Since the average home security system has a lifespan of 5 to 10 years and because this company’s deployments cover such a broad geographical area, it was critical for profitability that its least tech-savvy customers be able to replace batteries and radio devices themselves. For this reason, the security company selected as its solution a common, inexpensive radio device. After 3 years of deploying easy-to-replace radio devices and batteries in its home security units, the number of repair visits for cellular systems were 25% less than those for the custom wired devices.

Aeris is the only IoT / M2M company that is “carrier- agnostic” and will automatically connect your device to the carrier with the strongest signal, no matter how remote the location.

FIVE WAYS TO LOWER YOUR TCO FOR IOT / M2M COPYRIGHT © 2015, AERIS COMMUNICATIONS, INC. 2

5. CHOOSE THE RiGHT NETWORK CAPABiLiTY FOR YOUR DEPLOYMENTS

Among the general public, awareness of 4G and LTE networks is fairly common. And while the options offered with 4G/ LTE make sense for consumer networks, IoT / M2M deployments have a very different set of needs. Consider first the type, volume, and frequency of your data. For ioT / M2M communications, 2G GSM/GPRS may provide ample support.

When a residential home security company learned that AT&T intended to shut down its 2G GSM/GPRS network at the end of 2016, it began discussions with AT&T to migrate its devices and network to 4G. After all, that was the latest and most powerful technology, and an upgrade would position the business for future product innovation. it did not take long, however, for this security company to realize how expensive this transition would be. Not only were the 4G devices seven times as expensive, the monthly cost for the 4G service is significantly higher than 2G. Further financial analysis showed that it would take the company at least eight years to simply recoup their investment. Although the company was the leading home security provider in its market, it did not have the operating capital to fund the transition. So the security company turned to Aeris. We conducted a business and technology review and considered every aspect of this company’s ioT / M2M needs, including:

• Volume and frequency of data transmission

• The need for custom vs. off-the-shelf devices

• Company’s time-to-market with a new solution

• Audience for data (end user, corporation, etc.)

• Use of data (for example, proactive vs. reactive)

• Transport distance of data

• Location requirements

When the review was complete, the security company made two decisions: first, it would extend the value of its current equipment investment by changing to the Aeris network, which guaranteed 2G CDMA coverage for at least five more years. Second, it would take the next two to three years to properly design and deploy the next generation of their services on 3G or 4G on the Aeris network.

AERiS HAS THE RiGHT SOLUTiON Aeris is more than just a network. it is inspiring companies to change the way they think about and use ioT / M2M communications. By combining its years of experience with technological expertise and ingenuity, Aeris is able to understand its customers’ requirements to adapt and deliver intelligent ioT / M2M solutions that are optimized for market-leading performance and mission-critical reliability at a price that fits your business model.

FIVE WAYS TO LOWER YOUR TCO FOR IOT / M2M COPYRIGHT © 2015, AERIS COMMUNICATIONS, INC. 3

ABOUT AERiSAeris is a pioneer and leader in the market of the internet of Things – as an operator of end-to-end ioT and M2M services and as a technology provider enabling other operators to build profitable IoT businesses. Among our customers are the most demanding users of ioT services today, including Hyundai, Acura, Rand McNally, Leica, and Sprint. Through our technology platform and dedicated ioT and M2M services, we strive to fundamentally improve their businesses – by dramatically reducing costs, improving operational efficiency, reducing time-to-market, and enabling new revenue streams.

Our global headquarters is in Silicon Valley (Santa Clara, California). Our European headquarters is near London, UK. Visit www.aeris.com or follow us on Twitter @AerisM2M to learn how we can inspire you to create new business models and to participate in the revolution of the internet of Things.

Get in touch

To learn more, contact us at info@aeris.net or 1-888-GO-AERiS in North America or +44 118 925 3202 in Europe.

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FIVE WAYS TO LOWER YOUR TCO FOR IOT / M2M COPYRIGHT © 2015, AERIS COMMUNICATIONS, INC. 4