Customer success story
autosen transforms from sensor supplier to digital innovator with Cumulocity
Customer
Challenges
- Starting from zero: In 2018, autosen entered the cloud business with no internal software development resources, needing a platform that could rapidly accelerate time-to-market.
- Build vs. buy decision: To deliver on its vision for io-key and minion, autosen needed a reliable IoT platform without the heavy lift of building one from scratch.
- Need for flexibility: A solution that could adapt to customer requirements, including white-labeling and tailored services, was essential.
- Ease of operations: With a lean team, autosen required minimal operational overhead in managing cloud services.
- Go-to-market speed: To seize early mover advantage, the company needed to launch a product quickly that could scale across industries.
Outcomes
- Rapid product launch: With Cumulocity as the foundation, autosen brought io-key to market within a year, saving years of development effort.
- Plug-and-play simplicity: Customers can connect sensors to the cloud in under a minute, without IT intervention or programming.
- Scalable business model: The io-key opened new recurring revenue opportunities, shifting autosen from pure hardware sales to subscription-based digital services.
- Expanded ecosystem: White-label options allowed partners like Deutsche Telekom to offer io-key as part of their own solutions, multiplying reach.
- Unexpected benefits: Other Cumulocity users adopted io-key, creating new customer relationships and boosting product sales.
Cumulocity IoT is a great solution for a build-and-buy strategy. The platform gave us maximum flexibility with minimal operational effort. And behind it are nice people and a great culture.
Rainer Schniedergers
Product Management & Technology
Autosen
Details
autosen launched its io-key in 2018 with a clear vision: make IIoT accessible to everyone by eliminating the technical and financial barriers to connecting industrial sensors to the cloud.
Traditionally, transferring sensor data to the cloud required costly integration projects and significant IT involvement. autosen wanted to break that pattern by offering a simple, self-contained device that worked out-of-the-box. The io-key integrates a gateway, connectivity, and cloud in a single product, powered by Cumulocity.
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In 2024, autosen expanded its portfolio with the minion, a battery-powered IIoT device with built-in cellular connectivity. Designed for maximum cost-efficiency and minimal maintenance, the minion makes it possible to monitor sensors and machines even in remote locations – without wiring, gateways, or complex setup. This opens up entirely new fields of application where the io-key’s plug-and-play approach is complemented by the minion’s ultra-portable and economical design.The choice of Cumulocity was driven by its reliability, scalability, and flexibility. The platform allowed autosen to offer automatic device onboarding, pre-built dashboards, and analytics without needing to build or maintain the infrastructure. White-labeling options also made it easy to extend the io-key’s reach through resellers and ecosystem partners.
Today, customers across industries; from agriculture to food processing to manufacturing, use the io-key and minion to monitor fill levels, temperatures, humidity, and machine status. A setup takes less than a minute, with no IT integration required. This ease-of-use has helped autosen win more than 22,000 customers and establish the io-key and minion as a market-leading plug-and-play IIoT solution.
By leveraging Cumulocity IoT, autosen has transformed from a distributor of sensors into a digital solutions provider; accelerating time-to-market, expanding its ecosystem, and unlocking new growth opportunities.
Take the next step
Companies are doing great things with IoT, you can too
Learn what’s possible on Cumulocity, a leading global, low-code, self-service IoT platform.