Location data is increasingly becoming an important component in many business strategies, including customer engagement and satisfaction, product and asset management, and targeted marketing to name a few. This is particularly true as the world becomes smaller thanks to improvements in logistics and transportation, the internet and e-commerce, and rising mass affluence eager to use their newfound love for all things mobile.
Singapore-based W-Locate will be using Tata Communications to help it meet its international ambitions. The IoT startup provides real-time location-based information to enterprises across Singapore, Hong Kong, Jakarta and Malaysia. Its international ambitions extends to South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and other Asian countries and expects Tata Communications’ IoT and private cloud computing capabilities to make that happen.
W-Locate’s XimLoc and FIND (fleet intelligent dynamics) services integrate machine-to-machine (M2M) telematics, big data and cloud computing with location intelligence. With XimLoc, any SIM card-based device can be located without relying on GPS alone. FIND caters for industries that are always on the move such as ready-mixed concrete supply, telematics and logistics.
When deployed over Tata Communications’ proprietary MOVE platform it will allow W-Locate services to be deployed across different countries without the need for the start-up to negotiate connectivity agreements with local mobile network operators (MNOs). The second part of the equation is ensuring data security and this is where W-Locate intends to use Tata Communications’ IZO private cloud to store all XimLoc and FIND data. The expectation is that the IZO private cloud will give the startup the scalability it may need as its business grows.
Stevie Ooi, Founder and CEO, W-Locate said the reliance on Tata Communications’ connectivity solution and cloud infrastructure will help reduce our capex by 35% while giving it the agility it needs to stay ahead of the market.
One W-Locate customer that will benefit from this new arrangement is LafargeHolcim Malaysia – a building materials manufacturer with operations in 80 countries. W-Locate will leverage Tata Communications’ IoT and cloud capabilities to collect and manage LafargeHolcim Malaysia’s data securely and seamlessly across borders.
