SMEs that tap Machine to Machine tech will punch above their weight

MACHINE to Machine (M2M) technology, long touted as the next big thing in the communications revolution, is well and truly here. M2M provides the means to connect all sorts of devices to the Internet, anything from vending machines to defibrillators to cars, helping to create the "Internet of things" (IoT).

Ovum's Cellular M2M forecasts that from 2014 to 2019, global connections will grow 162 per cent to reach 530 million. Out of this total, Asia and Oceania are expected to take the lead with over 200 million connections by 2019, followed by Europe and the Americas. This has the potential to change the way people live and the way companies operate right here in Asia.

From smart metering to smart cities to smart cars, we are about to witness a quantum change in connectivity with connected devices set to grow from 4.4 million today to 10.3 billion by 2018, according to the latest figu…