The eSIMs are a reality in the IoT market that bring new chances for optimizing processes and operative costs. They allow the independence of the operator but their use require tools of management (SIM Management) that rise to the occasion of the expectations in the profits capture.

Some years have passed since the technological availability of eSIMs and its widespread application in IoT applications is taking hold. The advantages of its use are multiple, compared to traditional ones with physical support. Flexibility, independence of the operator, simplification of the operation in the field, and, ultimately, contribution in reducing costs.

In order to capture the profits that the use of eSIMs promises, it is necessary to have a powerful management tool (eSIM/SIM Management) that facilitates the operation based on operational and business criteria.

The companies that can capitalize on the potential are those that deal with significant fields of IoT devices (Utilities, POS terminal, alarms …), either because they are undertaking a new deployment, or because they must address the decision to replace communications from a considerable base of deployed devices. with conventional SIMs. Those that have great complexity in the deployment involving different countries of origin and destination of the equipment that require local communications at competitive costs are also sensitive to the use of these solutions.

eSIM, features, advantages

The eSIM, also known as Virtual SIM, more than staying on a non-removable chip has as its most notable characteristics the ability to register multiple profiles and the ability to change operators in an automated way. The eSIMs provided by traditional operators become a manageable electronic profile with OTA messages.

The main benefit that it presents for companies that have massive deployments of IoT devices is the ability to change their communications provider by passing the exit barrier represented by the physical change of conventional SIM. But, also, it could allow the coexistence of profiles of different operators that would change dynamically, for reasons of quality of service, rate or based on the state and requirements of the business processes through which the connected equipment passes. It is worth noting that some utilities have chosen to use physical dual SIM IoT gateways to partially achieve these benefits, which reveals the importance of these new possibilities.

The simplification that eSIM brings undoubtedly also translates into lower operating, logistical and administrative costs. Not in vain will it facilitate a fully centralized management of the entire fleet of contracted SIMs.

In a more advanced approach, these types of massive IoT communications applicants could become MVNOs and host their own profiles in the eSIMs, taking profits to the extreme.

Massive environments and multi geographic complexity

Undoubtedly, capturing the benefits of eSIM will require additional capabilities, but before addressing this problem, it is good to rethink whether the needs of the massive use of conventional SIMs have been identified and addressed.

Companies with a deployed fleet of lines often have the defect in the inadequate control of the inventory and the use and consumption of their lines. In the case of the inventory, the correct association of the line and the device that hosts it is a common deficiency, which causes errors in the operation and additional costs.

Another inherent need is the measurement of the quality/ reliability of communications, essential for making the best decisions regarding the operator to be used, according to specific regions or criticalities and due to their costs, demand for compliance with the contracted quality and in the worst case of penalisations.

SIM Management

Companies that understand all of these benefits and want to capture them must supply themselves with management tools. If they already have a high field of SIMs, they will have detected the convenience of having a system for their management, but if they are going to take the eSIM path, it will be essential to have a SIM Management tool.

Mobile operators frequently offer some “managed connectivity” solution that will partially solve the needs described and restrict the scope to “their” field, forcing one of each operator to interact with several similar tools.

At Amplía, we have been helping our clients move towards digitalization for a long time and we have evolved our developments, bringing together in “OpenGate eSIM/SIM Management Module” all the power for optimal management of the problems described.

OpenGate eSIM/SIM Management

The unified management of SIMs and eSIMs in OpenGate is a reality that enables coexistence and a transition to eSIMs. The independence of the operator, allows a transparent operation, which homogenizes the processes of acquisition, life cycle management, monitoring, control and claims. It shows operator performance in a clear and customizable way, segmented by geography, service, or even equipment model.

We cannot ignore the integration needs with the “Subscription Managers” systems that manage the change of operator profile in an eSIM whose problems have been addressed in Opengate eSIM/SIM Management.

As you can see,  the eSIM improves processes, reduces time and costs, offers greater transparency and a system that unifies all your inventory, with different operators, in different parts of the world, will simplify its management and provide data to verify that its service is correctly offered to its clients in addition to developing new lines of business thanks to these data.

Author: Alejandro Sicilia, Senior Advisor at amplía)))