Intel's Joe Jensen: For Successful IoT Projects, 'It Takes A Village'
March 26,2020
See full CRN news article by Dylan Martin here.
In a private dining area of a futuristic hotel's basement floor, Intel executive Joe Jensen is sitting within a real-life example of how successful IoT projects require several partners to get the job done.
It’s early winter—two months or so before the coronavirus would become a global pandemic that has forced the shutdown of thousands of businesses across the U.S. But on this January day, Jensen is at The Sinclair, a building in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. Once home to the Sinclair Oil Co., the site has since been transformed into what Intel is calling the "world's first all-digital hotel." With touchscreens that control lighting and shades and Bluetooth sensors that detect room occupancy, the property was developed by hotelier Farukh Aslam, who wanted to adapt a historic building into a boutique hotel that is highly efficient and environmentally friendly.
"The challenge he had is that 'it takes a village,'" said Jensen, who is vice president of Intel's IoT Group and general manager of Retail, Banking, Hospitality and Education. "It takes a lot of partners to pull something like this off. And one of the things Intel's really good at is, because we're not actually selling directly to Sinclair, the partners are consuming our products, and so we can sit back and be that consultant."
In an interview with CRN, Jensen talked about how Intel works with partners on IoT projects, how IoT projects differ from traditional IT projects and what kind of opportunities partners can find in IoT.
"The first thing is, we see the companies that have domain expertise, a deep expertise, in what they're building as the ones who really succeed," he said.
Location Mentioned: The Sinclair, Autograph Collection Hotel