Deutsche Telekom has positioned itself as a leading player in the ongoing growth of the Internet of Things by launching a dedicated developer community platform for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.
The new community is part of Deutsche Telekom’s existing Developer Garden initiative and provides developers with a suite of practical tools, including APIs and software development kits (SDKs). These resources are designed to make it quick and easy to build, integrate, and monetize M2M applications.
Connecting everyday devices and systems to the internet is a logical next step in an increasingly connected world. With roughly five billion M2M devices already in operation worldwide and projections estimating many times that number in the years ahead, Deutsche Telekom aims to capture a significant share of this expanding market.
For example, an alarm system could be monitored through an M2M API and linked to Deutsche Telekom’s SMS API so that users receive text alerts when a sensor is triggered. The same model applies to countless other scenarios—vehicles, appliances, wearable items, pet trackers, and more—all possible M2M use cases that developers can pursue.
Developers can create these applications within Deutsche Telekom’s framework and distribute them via the company’s M2M Marketplace, which was launched in June. The community site also encourages knowledge sharing: forums enable developers to discuss ideas, troubleshoot, and collaborate with Deutsche Telekom experts and other community members.
The portal is also geared toward IT firms and device manufacturers that want to add M2M connectivity to their products using Deutsche Telekom SIM cards. This opens opportunities for new product categories and connected offerings across many industries.
“There is no doubt that the demand for the various options provided by this technology will increase dramatically in nearly all industry sectors—the applications range from process optimization through to completely new business ideas,” said Jürgen Hase, Head of Deutsche Telekom’s M2M Competence Center.
“To shape the ecosystem, we want to cooperate and partner with IT companies, hardware manufacturers, and developers. The Developer Community, alongside the M2M Marketplace, represents an important step in implementing our strategy and positioning ourselves sustainably in the M2M market.”
Discover more about M2M and the Internet of Things at Telecoms Tech World.