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While Flexera Software is perhaps best known for its software licensing options and its product line in making it that much easier to make software make money, it's got more than that going for it as well. It recently made a splash at the IoT Breakthrough Awards, in which it landed a major honor which it subsequently detailed on its blog.

Flexera Software's efforts in software licensing are just part of its overall picture, with ventures in open source security and compliance systems also in place. However, with this new win, Flexera is now the IoT Enablement Company of the Year, as judged by IoT Breakthrough.  It's the first such award released to date, though further events are expected to follow.

With the IoT Breakthrough Awards recognizing a wide array of categories within the field, ranging from connected cars to IoT security and home automation and beyond, it's easy to see where being recognized as the IoT Enablement Company of the Year is a big step. That's particularly true for a firm that was better known in other areas like software licensing. With around 20.8 billion IoT devices set to be in the field by2020, according to Gartner (News - Alert) figures, it becomes clear why Flexera stepped up its efforts in IoT provision.

IoT Breakthrough managing director James Johnson commented, “Flexera Software clearly stood out in the IoT Enablement category, with unique solutions addressing complex problems in the industry - ultimately enabling companies to understand what open source components are embedded in the software powering their IoT devices, and the vulnerability and compliance risk associated with those components. To say the competition was extremely fierce is an understatement, and we sincerely congratulate Flexera on this noteworthy industry recognition."

With so much IoT potential coming up—especially as 5G connectivity gets fired up in earnest, a point we're already starting to see happen with AT&T (News - Alert)—it's probably a smart move to invest at least some development capability in IoT operations. That Flexera went far enough with it to take home an award is no mean feat, but it's likely just an incidental effect of a larger internal movement. Flexera is looking to expand into a market that will be thick with opportunity within the next couple of years, and already poses plenty of value today.

This award is indicative of Flexera's skill in development, and suggests that it will be a player to watch in much more than the software licensing market. With IoT efforts likely to explode in the next few years, the end result should be impressive for anyone who's willing to start development now to beat the rush.