We continually find ourselves in discussion with administrators of M2M implementations whose scope is limited, while at the same time carriers and system integrators are discovering once they are in a deployment that they will likely be asked to add to the existing systems or add a new solution. What is needed to reconcile this conundrum is an approach designed to account for adaptation going forward.

To ensure the most economic implementations, it is necessary to develop best practices in selecting cost-effective M2M solutions and streamlining product development that are based on industry trends. Other benefits in adhering to these trends include the avoidance of pitfalls resulting from myopic thinking. Many M2M implementations involve multiple vendors interoperating to provide a single solution, and failing to understand the rationale of these partnerships leads to deployment difficulties and delays.

These issues will be at the heart of a webinar that Systech’s Robert Lutz (News - Alert) and I am moderating on the subject of Modular M2M Architecture, which will take place on Wednesday, August 14, 2013 2:00 PM EDT / 11:00 AM PDT.

One key point I will be listening for during the webinar is discussion around the impact of carrier End-of-Life strategies with regard to wireless networks. As AT&T (News - Alert) and others have announced their migration off the 2G networks, one way to minimize the impact is via a modular approach.

A place where Systech’s modular vision has been of significant value is in the managing of endpoints. The Systech (News - Alert) router -- which offers up to 16 Ethernet ports -- can serve as the central location for a variety of networked locations.

The Invatron Systems case study available at the Systech website, illustrates the issues of centralizing information for a distributed company, such as a grocery store. These issues, however, are easily transferable to fleet, supply chain and even medical solutions.

We can talk about green fields of uncharted opportunity, or brown fields where conversion to wireless from existing WAN systems requires gateways such as those offered by Systech, or we can just talk about the opportunity to connect sensors and read their data from any location. Regardless of what stage of development you are at in your M2M implementations, though, our Modular M2M Architecture webinar is sure to offer help and offer vital insight. I hope you will join us on Wednesday to take advantage of this valuable opportunity.