NTT Ltd. and Cisco announced a collaboration to develop and deploy joint solutions that empower organizations to improve operational efficiencies and advance sustainability goals.

Leveraging NTT's Edge as a Service portfolio and Cisco's IoT capabilities, solutions developed by the two companies will offer real-time data insights, enhanced security, improved decision-making, and reduced operational costs through predictive maintenance, asset tracking, and supply chain management capabilities.

The companies will deliver solutions that combine NTT's Managed Services expertise, automation capabilities at the edge, and the management of complex IT environments, with Cisco's IoT capabilities, including Low Power Wide Area Networking (LoRaWAN).

As part of today's news, NTT has bolstered its IoT consulting and services business that brings together more than 1000 practitioners and 100 use cases in areas such as connected cars, fleet management, predictive maintenance, smart cities, digital twins, connected factories, utilities and more. NTT has already trained more than 500 Cisco sales experts to accelerate the companies' combined capabilities and go-to-market efforts.

"We are accelerating our IoT business initiatives to deliver a powerful portfolio of repeatable services that can be tailored to meet customer demand for these kinds of solutions. We're in a unique position," said Devin Yaung, SVP of Group Enterprise IoT Products and Services at NTT.

"We are excited to work together to help transition our customers to this IoT-as-a-Service model so they can quickly realize the business benefits across industries and around the globe," said Samuel Pasquier, VP of Product Management, Industrial IoT Networking, Cisco.

Transforming Water Management Through Smart Solutions

NTT and Cisco are developing solutions and go-to-market offers focusing on industries such as manufacturing, transportation, and healthcare, where there is a growing demand for edge computing and IoT solutions. The two companies are already deploying this advanced ‘ruggedized' service to several customers including Compagnie Intercommunale Liégeoise des Eaux (CILE), a public water distribution company located in Belgium.

NTT and Cisco have deployed thousands of LoRaWAN sensors across CILE's infrastructure to provide remote visibility that improves operational efficiencies related to water quality, consumption, distribution, and maintenance. The solution also includes advanced technologies such as smart distribution networks, remote reading through smart meters, smart grid for remote management, connected IoT objects, and AI, delivered as a managed service. The network also provides the building blocks to support other sustainability use cases such as waste management, parking management, water quality and street light controls.

"At CILE, we provide critical infrastructure for 24 cities in Belgium, which means efficiency, security and reliability are key," said William de Angelis, CIO and CDO at CILE. "With NTT and Cisco's support, we have real-time insights into our facilities and distribution networks, including faster detection of leaks, allowing us to respond to issues instantaneously and expand the network to other sustainability use cases."

NTT Ramps Up IoT Consulting and Services Business

In a move to prioritize and scale IoT for clients and partners, NTT has activated an IOT-dedicated business unit bringing together deep expertise and capabilities from around the globe. The team of 1,000 consultants, engineers, enterprise architects, and sustainability experts will build, deploy, and manage more than 100 use cases in areas such as connected cars, fleet management, predictive maintenance, smart cities, digital twins, connected factories and more.

"We're doubling down on NTT's IoT capabilities to meet customer demand," continued Yaung. "What we're doing is pulling together our collective knowledge and skillsets, and putting the full power of NTT behind it, to better service our customers and the increasing need to outfit or retrofit their organizations with the connectivity and visibility they need to improve day-to-day business operations."

The global IoT market is expected to grow 19 percent in 2023, with a potential market size of $483 billion by 2027.