Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

In October 2021 Jola reached a new milestone with over £1 million of Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) in Jola’s major bid (over £5k MRR) partner pipeline. This equates to nearly £2m MRR for Jola partners. Jola reached over 1000 partners last year.

M2M and IoT is not as difficult to get into as you may think. There is a huge demand for mobile data for IT projects, which is predicted to increase dramatically over the next few years. Mobile data is easy to sell, support and bill, with a real-time automated portal and access to a wide range of unique and differentiated solutions. Partners who have developed their portfolio and become successful at selling mobile data have driven up their EBITDA multiple.

When Jola first started working on major mobile data bids with their partners, none of the tenders even mentioned self-service portals. Today nearly 30% include parent-child online management panels as a minimum requirement.

It’s no surprise to see this change primarily in second generation projects. End-user companies that have rolled out multi-site IoT/M2M deployments have found them impossible to manage manually. From capacity management to usage and fault diagnosis, everything is so much easier with real-time control.

When these projects come up for renewal the need for a comprehensive portal moves from Desired to Essential. With specialist third party bid consultants involved in helping companies write tenders, this is only going to increase.

Mobile Manager is Jola’s unique mobile data management platform. It is multi-carrier and has the ability to eliminate bill shock for end users.

Mobile Manager is used by MSPs and resellers to order and manage global mobile data estates in real-time. The white label portal communicates in real-time with multiple mobile networks. Partners can grant access to their end users to view data usage and manage SIMs. Mobile Manager handles SIM activations, ceases, suspensions, reports, alerts and bolt-ons. It also allows you to create and manage data pools and Private APNs.

Why was Mobile Manager developed?

It was designed to help channel partners grow profitable revenue streams from SIM-only solutions. Our partners win opportunities for DSL and Ethernet back-up, fixed line replacement, IoT and M2M projects as well as SIM base moves from large corporates. Resellers can brand and package their own mobile data data solutions for multiple devices all over the world.

How does it manage overages?

Mobile Manager solves the problem of bill shock from data overages by allowing partners to track usage and add bolt-ons to help eliminate overage charges completely. This is the exact opposite of what the market typically does. Carriers earn super-profits from overage charges and the channel loses customers because of it. We are the first company in the channel to challenge this and put the resellers and their customers first.

Can it support multiple networks?

Yes. For applications where it is critical to have a strong internet connection at all times, businesses are opting for un-steered multi-network roaming SIMs. These SIM cards have no preferred network.

We offer a range of multi-network and roaming options. Our Tariff Tool allows MSPs to select the countries and data allowance they need and obtain all the in-country 3G, 4G and 5G roaming network packages available.

MSPs and specialists using 4G for connectivity on short-term contracts, or for back-up, often struggle to control data usage, so get regularly hit by overage bills. They manage large estates of data SIMs on different networks, often using manual order processes, with no visibility of data usage throughout the month.

Jola developed Mobile Manager to help partners manage data usage in real-time and avoid bill shock. Our unique portal gives partners complete control over ordering, alerting, ceasing, suspending and swapping SIMs. They can also add their own bolt-ons, create and manage their own data pools and set up and manage private APN networks. Jola’s white label portal communicates in real-time with multiple 4G networks. Partners can brand the portal as their own and grant access to their end users to view data usage and manage SIMs.

Mobile Manager was designed to help channel partners grow profitable revenue streams from mobile data. MSPs productise their own solutions using Jola’s wide range of single-network and multi-network SIMs.

IoT

There is a wide range of devices that need an internet connection and M2M/IoT SIMs fit the bill. Opportunities are flooding in via partners from multiple sectors such as retail, construction, logistics and the public sector, all with different requirements. Some need IP addresses, others need multi-network SIMs, but all need the ability to monitor and manage usage remotely. Jola developed products for the channel to address these markets.

One of our partners showed us a tender they were working on recently and one of the questions was,

“Do you have your own real-time SIM management portal or are you providing third-party access to the Networks’ portals?”

A very specific question born, I surmise, out of bitter experience. The project was for thousands of SIMs in physical security devices, 2.5 years into a 36-month term. The incumbent had not been invited to tender.

For redundancy, every device had two SIMs, one unlimited and one multi-network and the end user had found having to log on to two completely different web sites exasperating. They had different features, different CDR formats and not all the processes were automated, creating MAC delays, especially out of hours.

If that’s the experience of the end user, imagine the frustration of MSPs who want to sell all the networks to multiple end users.

Most suppliers will say they have a self-service portal but if they don’t have their own they are putting their partners at a significant disadvantage.

Jola is an award-winning, channel-only supplier of business communications, specialising in mobile data SIMs. We are a global data specialist, providing innovative IoT and mobile data solutions to MSPs, ISPs, IT Support companies and Telecommunications Resellers.

A shift towards online shopping has driven demand for fulfilment and distribution centres. These new spaces require reliable connectivity. Where no existing fibre is available, MSPs are turning to 4G.

MSPs are quoting online retailers for bespoke 4G connectivity packages that meet their exact requirements. They are offering solutions that can be preconfigured and delivered to multiple locations to meet tight deadlines.

MSPs are turning to Jola for their multinetwork roaming SIMs controlled in Mobile Manager.

MSPs partnering with Jola are offering multinetwork solutions. Data is managed within Mobile Manager, an online management portal for ordering and managing SIM estates globally.

The healthcare sector has been adopting new technology to assist with medical activities for some time. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, technology has developed at a much faster pace in this sector, which presents opportunities for the channel.

Medical professionals are adopting new ways to treat patients and avoid unnecessary in-person treatments, and IoT devices have helped make this possible. Smart thermometers have been used to measure temperatures, and wearable IoT devices are used to track patients’ vital signs. Smartwatches and heart rate monitors gather data that can be remotely analysed by a physician.

Challenges

Data security and patient confidentiality are critical in healthcare. The industry must protect itself from hackers, and patients must feel comfortable that their personal data are secure.

Opportunity for the channel

The healthcare sector is in desperate need of technology to avoid unnecessary visits to surgeries and hospitals and to protect frontline workers. Opportunities for mobile broadband, cloud-based telehealth software and mobile data flooded the market, as demand increased for real-time communication and remote monitoring.

Patient experience has changed dramatically during the pandemic, with patients encouraged to wait for doctor call-backs or arrange video calls. Phone systems are being upgraded, telehealth software is being rolled out and smart devices are provided to mobile healthcare workers. Some exhibition centres have been turned into vaccination centres, and the channel was called upon to set up communications and monitoring equipment.

Jola partners have been providing fast, reliable mobile broadband connections, telephony solutions and M2M/IoT data SIMs for monitoring devices, managed in Mobile Manager.

The channel is well placed to help customers adopt new technologies such as 5G. Resellers will know which of their customers are in an area with 5G coverage and also what their requirements are. Many resellers may already be using 4G to solve their customers’ Internet access issues in areas with poorly performing fixed-line services, so 5G is a great opportunity to upsell to new 5G hardware and SIMs.

Is now the time to build offerings that use 5G services?

Now is definitely the time because there’s the opportunity to provide 5G-ready solutions. 5G routers also support LTE Advanced, which is already available in much more of the country than 5G. So by selling a 5G-ready SIM and router, the customer could enjoy a big performance boost even before 5G actually arrives. 

What is the appetite for 5G-ready devices?

In the mobile voice space, the latest handsets from all the main manufacturers are already 5G ready, so any handset replacement project is likely to have 5G readiness as a requirement. In the mobile router space, though, there are extremely few 5G options available although we expect that to change this year now that the major chipset and modem module manufacturers are now producing 5G components in volume.

As water management systems age and infrastructures are updated, utility companies consider long-range remote meter systems. By connecting water meters, utility companies eliminate the need for onsite meter readings, saving time and often improving customer satisfaction.

Dispatching staff to manually read water meters is both time-consuming and a logistical challenge. Reductions in manpower, fuel and vehicle maintenance costs add up to significant savings for utility companies switching to smart water meters.

Nonconnected water meters take point-in-time readings periodically, therefore providing a fairly limited amount of data about water usage patterns. Smart water meters give companies access to a continuous stream of real-time information about water consumption.

Smart water meters also provide utility companies real-time alerts regarding outages, pipeline failures and leaks. This additional information allows companies to engage in early or preventative maintenance, identifying problems before they worsen and become more costly. Water management information can be stored in the cloud, accessible via web-based dashboards, making data gathering and analysis simple and efficient.

Specialists rolling out smart meters need reliable 4G connectivity they can manage, which will continue to perform as long as the devices are deployed.

Jola helps MSPs and specialists uncover metering opportunities within their bases and offers the widest range of mobile data SIMs from multiple suppliers, which are easy to order and manage via Mobile Manager.  

According to Ofcom 8500 organisations in the UK have a RID code but, despite it being the fastest growing product in the world, only around 1000 of these sell mobile data. Why is this?

Resellers feel it is dominated by the mobile networks direct.

Well, yes it is, or at least until recently it was. However, early movers in this market are now hoovering up huge deals by working with aggregators offering products (like Multinet and eSIM) that the networks cannot deliver but their customers demand.

Managing thousands of SIM assets is difficult and resellers have been burned by high overages in the mobile voice and data market.

Agreed but aggregators that offer a real-time comprehensive portal remove the headaches associated with ordering, provisioning and managing SIMs and have eradicated unexpected data overages completely.

It’s hard to sell and too niche.

Resellers often conflate mobile data and IoT. IoT is a subset of mobile data and requires resellers to either partner-up, or develop their own sector ecosystem. Conversely M2M projects for applications like CCTV, coaches, signage and car parks often only need a specialist router and a SIM.

The ARPU is too low and the margin is eroded by the MNOs direct.

Again, you’re probably thinking of IoT projects and the mobile data market is far bigger than just IoT. That said aggregators now have powerfully differentiated IoT solutions that help resellers beat the networks and at decent margins.

The market is not worth the effort.

Seriously, does anyone really still believe this? Mobile data is now the fastest growing ICT product in the world and mobile data companies are valued by the market at 3x the value of traditional comms companies.

A shift towards online shopping has driven demand for fulfilment and distribution centres. These new spaces require reliable connectivity. Where no existing fibre is available, MSPs are turning to 4G.

MSPs are quoting online retailers for bespoke 4G connectivity packages that meet their exact requirements. They are offering solutions that can be preconfigured and delivered to multiple locations to meet tight deadlines.

MSPs are turning to Jola for their multinetwork roaming SIMs controlled in Mobile Manager.

MSPs partnering with Jola are offering multinetwork solutions. Data is managed within Mobile Manager, an online management portal for ordering and managing SIM estates globally.