The following post is sponsored by Dell Expert Network, Dell’s benefit’s program for IT Consultants and MSPs.

First introduced in 1810, tin cans were a great innovation for food storage, but did you know it took 48 years to develop the can opener? Up until then, the consumer had to resort to chisels, hammers and knives to open the can. Of course, today, we don’t even need a can opener–we simply use the ring-pull mechanism, and the job is done in seconds.

The story shows that innovation–no matter how great–will never be broadly adopted if things are too complicated. In my experience, the best ideas are always simple, easy to execute and designed with the customer in mind.

KISSing the IoT

Take the Internet of Things. Our research shows that companies understand the benefit of the IoT and are keen to develop new business models and revenue streams. However, despite increased levels of adoption and investment, a high number of projects still fail because of too many partners and too much complexity. The problem is that, up until this point, there has been no one-stop-shop solution with a single vendor offering the full package.

That’s why I’m so excited about our partnership with Software AG and the launch of Cumulocity IoT Edge. Remember the marketing tag line “Keep it Simple, Stupid?”  Well, get ready to apply KISS to the Internet of Things!

Think Minutes Not Weeks and Months

Do you agree that connecting devices should take no more than 2 minutes? Want to create a real-time, interactive dashboard? If you think like me, you’ll want things done and dusted quickly and efficiently. The same applies if you’re creating and validating common analytics rules.

Integrating applications to create an end-to-end solution should be a breeze and sorted in less than three minutes. The bottom line is that you need a model where setting up IoT is as easy getting a coffee to go.

An Integrated Out-of-the-Box Solution

The good news is that you can now do all this with Cumulocity IoT Edge, a joint plug-and-play solution from Dell EMC OEM and Software AG. Available through our channel partners, the solution comes in three sizes: small, medium and large.

You get high quality, customizable hardware from a tier one vendor with the IoT software fully loaded, tested and licensed at the factory. We offer defined, cost-effective packages (hardware, software, support and services– three to five years).

Flexible, Powerful and Quick

Placed at the edge of a network with connectivity to local IoT devices, the appliance prepares, filters and aggregates data before sending it on to enterprise applications or the cloud for further processing. The software layer is flexible, can run on top of other software and enterprise applications and be used in literally any environment. In fact, it includes time-saving, industry-specific software solution modules–for example, for mechanical engineering, manufacturing and/or logistics.

Customers can connect any number of different end devices and sensors in just a few minutes. With features like integrated streaming analytics, preconfigured smart rules and field bus connectivity, it helps to create complex IoT solutions quickly and smoothly.

Just Like Star Wars’ C-3P0

What’s so unique about the solution? If you’re a Star Wars fan, you’ll be familiar with C-3PO, a humanoid robot character who is fluent in over 6 million forms of communication and designed to assist in etiquette, customs and translation. That description paints a great picture of what Software AG does!

Picture a software layer that can translate the various language protocols spoken by the different sensors. All the data from the various sensors is collected by our IoT Edge Gateways. Once harmonized, the data can be streamed, visualized and analyzed in real-time at the edge before being exported to big data for further back-end analytics.

Designed to Grow with your Business

This powerful, plug-and-play solution is fully scalable with customers expanding as required by simply adding another module. You get hands-on support from our channel partners, who understand the ins and outs of your business, all backed up by the reassurance of our global supply chain and award-winning support model.

Dell is the first major vendor to offer a complete out-of-box IoT experience. I believe that this innovation will revolutionize the market and make it easy for you to apply IoT to your business.

What has been your experience of IoT and digital transformation to date?  What’s your reaction to this announcement? I would love to hear your comments and questions.

To learn more about Dell Expert Network: visit www.dell.com/expertnetwork, email [email protected] or call 1-800-757-8442

Learn more about getting to ROI faster with your IoT strategy: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/learn/internet-of-things-solutions

Dermot O’Connell  is Executive Director and General Manager, Dell OEM Solutions EMEA, Dell EMC.

This guest blog is part of a Channel Futures sponsorship.