AT&T and IBM have announced a pilot collaboration to link the network operator’s IoT solutions with IBM’s Watson cloud capabilities.

With this new service, the two companies will provide AT&T’s enterprise customers valuable insights into their industrial IoT data, and builds on their strategic alliance in bringing together wireless connectivity, advanced analytics and cognitive capabilities.

IBM’s Watson IoT, Watson data platform and machine learning service will be leveraged by AT&T’s M2X, Flow Designer, Control Center and other IoT solutions, providing effective management on monitoring of devices, as well as the collection, management and storage of data.

The two companies envisage companies using their IoT data to better predict maintenance schedules and enable optimisation of their machines.

AT&T’s president of IoT solutions Chris Penrose said in a statement: “Businesses are eager for actionable data insights from their connected devices that help improve their processes and take the guesswork out of decision-making.”

“Integrating the IBM Watson data platform into our IoT capabilities will be huge for our enterprise customers.”

IBM’s general manager for telecommunications, media and entertainment Steve Canepa added: “As part of our continued collaboration to drive innovation, IBM is working with AT&T to combine our strengths and expertise to combine analytics solutions on the IBM Cloud that will enable AT&T’s enterprise customers to utilise their complex data in a meaningful way and deliver insights that can help accelerate their business transformation.”