IoT platform powers applications in Europe & Latin America

The IoT Acceleration Platform is unique in that it provides global multi-operator coverage by combining Sierra Wireless and third-party network operator SIMs, all managed from a single unified connectivity platform. The platform is proving equally valuable for large organisations like Veolia Water Technologies UK, looking to develop managed IoT services for customers, or innovative startups like Nube, with new IoT applications.

“Large or small and across multiple geographies, we are finding that companies offering IoT products and services have similar needs,” said Emmanuel Walckenaer, Senior Vice President, Cloud and Connectivity, Sierra Wireless. “Both Veolia Water Technologies and Nube found that using the fully integrated IoT Acceleration Platform provided them with the functionality and efficiency they needed to be able to get to market quickly and focus on providing a high level of service to their customers, while efficiently managing their own operations.”

One customer that has already taken advantage of the IoT Acceleration Platform is Veolia Water Technologies UK, specialists in pure water systems and process water solutions. Veolia’s Vision Air service, which provides customers with remote status and performance monitoring of critical parameters such as flow, pressure, temperature, and conductivity for their water treatment systems, was developed in collaboration with Sierra Wireless. The solution uses Sierra Wireless devices and all aspects of the IoT Acceleration Platform, including connectivity.

“In previous projects, we have worked with different vendors to integrate diverse components into a unified solution, a process which took considerable time and effort,” commented Laurent Hanique, Operational Excellence Director, Veolia Water Technologies UK. “Sierra Wireless was able to offer us a complete solution, already pre-integrated and tested. This simplified the process and significantly reduced the development time in getting our Vision Air service to market.”

Nube is the first Cloud-based IoT solution for monitoring LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) gas levels and consumption. Nube has developed an IoT subscription-based solution, from the sensor installed on the tank to the mobile and web applications used both by consumers and energy companies, to monitor tank levels and conditions, order refills, complete payment and analyse data from the connected tanks throughout Mexico and Latin America.

For consumers this provides a simple, stress-free method for monitoring the level of gas in their tanks, ordering refills, and making payments. This eliminates the frequent issue of either running out of the gas they use for cooking and heating, or being forced to order refills based on a blind estimate of the tank level. For gas companies, knowing the level of gas in each customer’s tank enables better planning of gas purchasing and the ability to optimise scheduling and delivery operations, providing significant cost savings, efficient cash flow management and superior customer service.

Nube chose to power its innovative service using a wireless module from Sierra Wireless that is integrated with the connectivity, application enablement and operations management services from the IoT Acceleration Platform. This allows Nube to focus on optimising its user experience instead of building IoT infrastructure.

“It was very important for us to choose a partner that could eliminate much of the technical risk involved in implementing the infrastructure for our solution,” said Chris Gnanakone, Founder and Co-CEO, Nube. “We were impressed by the IoT Acceleration Platform from Sierra Wireless and felt that having the hardware pre-integrated would provide us with a significant time-to-market advantage. Additionally, the innovative SIM technology with quality of service intelligence is a big benefit for our business where we need to maximise coverage across multiple network operators.”