Which two companies will lead the enterprise Internet of Things?

As the enterprise Interent of Things (eIoT) becomes an increasingly big deal, everyone is starting to wonder which companies have the inside track to dominate this hot new market.

It’s not just a pie-in-the-sky question. A July 2018 study from Market Research Future predicted 26 percent annual growth in the eIoT market, hitting $58 billion in 2023.

And last year, a McKinsey & Company survey noted, “Although enterprise IoT is a relatively new development, 98 percent of survey respondents reported that most companies within their industry include enterprise IoT initiatives in their strategic road maps, including those related to improving service operations, increasing visibility into operations, enabling new business models, and creating new product and service offerings.”

The biggest opportunities, the survey said, were in platforms supporting manufacturing and service applications.

These enterprise IoT platforms, according to data and analytics firm GlobalData, “have become important enablers across a wide swathe of enterprise and industrial operations” by helping businesses become more productive, streamline their operations, and gain incremental revenues by connecting their devices and products to IoT devices sensors that collect a wide variety of environmental, usage, and performance data. The platforms are designed to help businesses collect, filter, and analyze data in a variety of applications that can help organizations make data-driven business, technology, and operational decisions.

But which eIoT platforms are best positioned for to lead the “dynamic and highly competitive eIoT market? To find out, U.K.-based GlobalData conducted a “comprehensive analysis … with profiles, rankings, and comparisons of 11 of the top global platforms,” including Amazon, Cisco, GE, Google, HPE, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, PTC, and SAP. GlobalData looked at platform capabilities and go-to-market strategies to determine “the best technological solution and most appropriate partner” for enterprise buyers to achieve real-world IoT business success.

The firm’s evaluation criteria includes:

• Go-to-market strategy
• Ecosystem
• Connectivity and device management
• App development
• Security
• Data services
• Analysis and reporting
• Pricing
• Packaging

And the eIoT winners are …

Which competitors does GlobalData say are winning so far?

IBM and SAP.

That shouldn’t be too big a surprise. The enterprise market often favors established vendors, and they don’t come much more establishment than these two. Reinforcing the point, the study from Market Research Future cited IBM’s hookup with Bosch to develop new eIoT technologies. IBM also shows up on VisionGain’s list of Top 20 Internet of Things (IoT) Companies 2018.

Still, in an emerging field like eIoT, you might figure that there’d be room at the top for scrappy market disruptors. And that may turn out to be the case. But for now, at least, the money seems to be on the big boys.