Navigating the Connected Car Ecosystem

The trends toward connectivity and mobility are converging at lightning speed in the connected car industry. For automotive manufacturers, the connected car represents an important differentiator that enables new user experiences and appeals to different audiences. Sometimes referred to as “smartphones on wheels”, the endless opportunities that connected cars offer can seem like the stuff of sci-fi.

You’ve probably read an article or seen footage of cars that drive themselves. That is just one use case for the car of the future. In truth, the revolution that connectivity enables for cars and their drivers is happening already and will continue to gather speed in the years ahead. By 2020, 90% of all new cars will feature built-in connectivity platforms, with the market potential estimated at $1.2 trillion revenue just for mobile operators. Now you can see why it’s a smartphone on wheels.

Car makers, mobile operators, component makers and application developers are together creating an ecosystem that will support the almost limitless use cases and significant revenue potential from maintenance, service and performance monitoring, infotainment, insurance and much more. Already car makers such as BMW and GM are offering services like Pandora and Google search to drivers. Meanwhile, mobile operators are making sure their systems are customizable, and Google’s Open Automotive Alliance will promote its open-source OS as a platform for in-car technology.

Application developers are working to improve connected car user experiences, or innovating entirely new ones. Remember nearly ten years ago when smartphones really started to gain a foothold and it became “all about the apps”? It’s happening again today with connected car technologies. Yet another reason for the smartphone on wheels analogy!

This time around, however, the machines communicating with each other won’t be confined to mobile phones. There is a dizzying array of use cases already being developed for the Internet of Things (IoT), and connected cars certainly fit in that category. Yet this growing ecosystem is not without its own unique challenges.

Those companies navigating the connected car route would do well to expect roadblocks ahead. How can you plan your strategy? What steps are needed to meaningfully outline a product roadmap? What other factors do you need to consider?

We will answer these questions and more in an informative webinar on October 28 at 2 p.m. Eastern time. We’ve teamed up with Comtech TCS, a provider of mission-critical wireless communications components, to bring you best practices in navigating the connected car ecosystem. Comtech’s vice-president of product management, Brian Salisbury, will be on-hand to share his expertise in mobile data and location-based services, along with Sanil Pillai, director of Apexon Labs.

Together, Brian and Sanil will outline best practices when it comes to forging a connected car strategy, as well as broader IoT market considerations. All you need to do to benefit from their combined experience is register for this free webinar, where you will learn:

• Ways in which testing differs in the IoT
• How to speed development and testing for IoT use cases to capture new revenue opportunities
• Real-world best practices from the automotive industry that connect consumers with new mobile services and enable valuable data analytics
• How to map the fastest route to new and differentiated use cases.

In last week’s blog we looked at the IoT, in particular the importance of gathering actionable intelligence to support a specific business case. The key to capitalizing on the connected car ecosystem relies on a similarly focused approach. It’s about transforming the vehicle (or driver) data into relevant information. Our webinar is a great start to get you on the right track. Or if you need more specific, hands-on guidance – perhaps in finessing a use case or solving a testing challenge – get in touch and we’d be happy to help.