VDC Research: Embedded Microprocessor, Board & Systems Market Blog

IoT Gateways Paving the Way for New Corporate Relationships

IoT gateways are not only connecting device and sensor networks, they are also accelerating the development of a broad variety of new corporate partnerships and collaborations between hardware suppliers and ISVs, OEMs, MNOs, solution/service providers, and others throughout the broader IoT ecosystem. The past several months have seen a flurry of activity among gateway technology providers of all sizes looking to augment their own portfolios with more functionality, integration support, industry-specific capabilities, and more. The gateway device class will continue to be a critical element of IoT solutions and enabling new channels of distribution for hardware, software, and service providers looking to enter the space.

One example of the newfound relationships being established between IoT gateway vendors and connectivity service providers includes Eurotech’s recent partnership with Arkessa in August 2015. The partnership helps facilitate the development of cellular IoT solutions by adding managed connectivity services to Eurotech’s gateways, hardware, and supporting software platforms using Arkessa’s global multi-network cellular and satellite services. Several other gateway hardware suppliers are taking a similar approach to expanding their regional market addressability through broader cellular network support – the most supported wireless connectivity technology among IoT and intelligent gateways being shipped today.

Arrow Electronics, a leading global distributor and provider of value-added services to electronic components and computer products, teamed up with NetComm Wireless, a global developer of M2M devices and gateway systems, in September 2015 to launch the first phase of its new Arrow Intelligent Services framework. The new framework, which represents a first venture for Arrow Electronics from its traditional product offerings and engineering services, looks to simplify and expedite IoT deployments worldwide with edge-to-enterprise integration using standard web services and APIs. Arrow Intelligent Gateways, the first part of the new framework providing off-the-shelf management capabilities for a number of product categories, will help normalize configuration and management of NetComm Wireless’ devices.

The IoT is largely about connecting and integrating hardware with new software platforms and services. Establishing end-to-end IoT solutions will continue to require a variety of new corporate relationships. Gateways have become a fundamental part of the IoT solution stack and establishing connections with these vendors will be critical to the success of new connected products and offerings.

To learn more about VDC Research’s recently published report on the IoT & Intelligent Gateways Market, see our Executive Brief here.

Embedded Processor IP Leaders Laying the IoT Foundation

In an effort to foster widespread adoption of their respective architectures and IP, leading embedded processor technology providers have been steadily building IoT-focused development platforms for their engineering ecosystems. ARM, Intel, and Imagination Technologies market comprehensive platforms focused on facilitating interoperability, software development, and security. Each organization is expanding on their development support and embedded hardware and software offerings in an effort to promote the reach of their respective core architectures. Despite some overlap, these leading embedded processor core architecture providers have actually embarked on fairly different paths for the IoT.

ARM’s mbed platform looks to bring simplicity and control to those wanting access to the IoT through its industry-leading Cortex-M IP. ARM is enlisting the market leadership of its MCU-based architectures as the base of its IoT expansion. In this way, ARM is selling itself as the convenient, low-power processing solution for IoT systems and further arming those who already use its processor IP with development tools and software stack components to facilitate creating end-to-end solutions. The mbed platform currently consists of ARM’s mbed OS, mbed Device Server, and mbed developer community. Moving forward, ARM is looking to expand its mbed ecosystem and its pool of cloud partners, OEMs, ODMs, system integrators, and silicon partners. Considering ARM’s leadership across several high-volume MCU markets and its strong developer community backed by leading embedded processor supplier partners, the company is in a very strong position to maintain its leadership in small footprint systems and mobile/portable devices through evolving connected hardware requirements.

Intel’s IoT Platform, on the other hand, is more malleable and not quite as grounded in one processor family or footprint. Intel’s platform is essentially an end-to-end IoT solution reference model supported by Intel’s processor families (e.g. Quark, Atom, Core), software from its McAfee and Wind River assets, and pre-integrated third-party solutions.  Intel has also made available IoT Gateway Development Kits – the DK50, DK100, DK200, and DK300 series – targeting a variety of leading connected industries with different hardware profiles. These development kits all come with fully-configured compute boards, wireless communication capabilities (with support for cellular, ZigBee, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and more), security, manageability, operating systems, and development tool sets. Further, Intel has also established the IoT Solutions Alliance, which now consists of more than 400 members, in order to promote IoT development and integration with Intel architectures. Intel is thus looking to expand usage of its architecture by offering more diversity to customers seeking to connect to the IoT.

Imagination Technologies’ Connected Processor IP Platform combines three individual products/components: Ensigma, Flowcloud, and MIPS processing. Ensigma is a set of communications and networking IP focused around radio processing and security. Flowcloud is an IoT device management platform specifically designed to accelerate the deployment of cloud-based applications. Perhaps its most ambitious push for wider MIPS adoption comes in the form of the Creator Ci20 board which launched in 2014 and was updated in May 2015. This development board is a mechanism by which developers, makers, and students can create applications for the IoT using Linux and Android. The Creator Ci20 is supported by the prpl foundation – an open source group that Imagination Technologies helped establish in May 2014 which supports MIPS to develop solutions enabling new datacenter-to-device portable software and virtualized architectures.

Although they are all expanding on their development support and partnership ecosystems, leading embedded processor technology providers are planning differently for the IoT. ARM, for instance, is further equipping its customers and partners with more of the software stack to facilitate the development of secure low-power connected systems. Intel is integrating software assets from Wind River and McAfee to accelerate IoT development across several of its processor families, growing the Intel IoT Solutions Alliance, and providing fully-configured intelligent gateway reference platforms for creating end-to-end solutions. Imagination Technologies is looking to spread the reach of MIPS through individual product adoption and open source development via the prpl foundation and its member partners including Broadcom, Cavium, Qualcomm, and more. The ability of core IP providers to net the growing IoT opportunity will be ultimately decided by the extent at which each can enable their current and prospective customers and partners to engineer end-to-end IoT solutions and services.

by Will Campbell, Research Associate

5G Picking Up Steam with Embedded Industry Leaders

What if, no matter where you are or how many people are connected to a network, you were able to perform every function you wanted with lower latency and at faster speeds than what is possible today? Think limitless connectivity: 5G mobile communications technology. While the very concept of 5G technology is still in its infancy, leaps and bounds are being made each year to establish its underlying technologies via research efforts across the globe. This next generation wireless system is projected to debut as early as 2018 by the 5G Creative Mobile Strategy forum in South Korea. However, most engineers do not believe 5G technologies will truly make its way into the hands of end users until sometime after 2020. VDC believes the latter, as several market elements between standardization and communications technology must advance and align to fulfill the prospect of the next mobile network generation.

Although the definition of 5G has yet to be solidified, common visions for this technology include: broader spectrum availability, multiple antennas, new waveforms, and heterogeneous networks.  In order to make efficient use of available spectrum, 5G researchers are investigating millimeter wavebands which offer wider bandwidths thus increasing data capacity. By implementing multiple antennas, also known as multiple-input and multiple output (MIMO) technology, the spectrum will be able to maintain multiple data streams seamlessly.  In order to support greater capacity, new and more-proficient signal structures—such as non-orthogonal multiple access multiplex (NOMA) and generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM)—must be examined. Heterogeneous Networks, or “HetNets,” will augment, possibly even replace, traditional, large tower base stations. HetNets employ small cells (e.g. femtocells, picocells, etc.) to strengthen connectivity when placed close together on rooftops or buildings. The utilization of HetNets will benefit high-traffic areas and increase backhaul capacity. If these visions of 5G are brought to fruition, wireless communication systems will never be the same.  Although the aforementioned components of 5G will undoubtedly create an overall better network, there are many factors that will determine the direction and success of this next generation system.

While embedded technology will eventually be capable of creating a 5G network, it does not mean that there is currently a real business driver behind the switch to 5G.  The companies that supply a 5G network are going to have to create not only a rich user experience in a technical sense, but they must also develop incentives and new business models encouraging adoption. If the transition is not seamless, 5G could go down the same path as WiMAX which fizzled away from popular use. Even 4G LTE has not picked up as quickly as vendors and network operators would have liked.

So what makes 5G different from these historical “break-through” technologies? Potential drawbacks of this next generation network include battery life and high product costs.  If devices will always be connected, embedded engineers will need to implement new strategies to reduce device power consumption—which will come in the form of new advanced hardware architectures, low-power (yet higher-compute) processing cores, and improved battery technology. Another associated factor of always being connected is cost; how much does endless connectivity cost exactly? Additional costs for establishing and maintaining connectivity will be levied by mobile network operators to justify the capital expenditure required for 5G deployments.  A 5G network requires several technological advances that will consequently increase the cost of associated devices. With these potential drawbacks in mind, several countries, companies, and academic institutions are investing billions of dollars worth of research into the creation of a 5th generation wireless system.

Few countries are in the race for creating and implementing a true 5G wireless system.  South Korea, Japan, and the United States are the front runners with China and the European Union trailing behind. South Korea has begun to invest a $1.5 billion budget into their 5G Creative Mobile Strategy. This creative forum is led by SK Telecom and includes steering committee members Ericsson-LG, LG Electronics, and Samsung, as well as Intel and Qualcomm. Japan’s NTT DoCoMo is collaborating with six vendors—Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Fujitsu, NEC, Nokia, and Samsung—in research and experimental trial efforts. Like Japan, the United States has no government-driven 5G research and development efforts. Thus, academia and private enterprises are leading these countries’ 5G research efforts. U.S. companies such as National Instruments and Agilent Technologies are top researchers in 5G technology.  WICAT is a multi-university, academic research and design center and conducts extensive research surrounding 5G. WICAT includes Polytechnic Institute of NYU, Virginia Tech, University of Texas at Austin, Auburn University, and the University of Virginia. Intel formed a research partnership with several universities to investigate 5G technologies. Other companies involved in 5G research include Broadcom and Huawei. These institutions are only of few of the thousands that are researching next-gen networks.

Possibly the largest determinant in developing and deploying 5G wireless systems is infrastructure capability. Even if there is a high demand for this new network service, whether the cellular industry has the funds to build up the new required infrastructure is arguably the most important factor of 5G’s future. The technology may be there, but installing new wire lines and base stations requires significant investments.

5G will have massive implications for nearly every industry. In a world with 5G-based networks, M2M connectivity will be the norm and expected. Whether you are connected to your fridge, microwave, car, or office equipment, these machines will be able to monitor themselves and advise users of their status quo. Connectivity will be pinnacle to business processes; thus value chains will be shaken, facilitating new opportunities within industry and new business models. Pervasive M2M connectivity will help automate basic tasks for companies, creating a more dexterous workforce. M2M services are a powerful driver in bringing 5G to the forefront; however, the technology and user experience must be seamless in order make this limitless connectivity a standard in our world.

By Delane Zahoruiko, Research Assistant

M2M Gateways: The Savior or Nemesis of IoT Security?

The indisputable rise of connectivity prompted by the Internet of Things across industries will spur strong demand for gateway devices to bridge potentially thousands of sensors, machines, or other products per device to the internet or cloud for years to come. Consequently, the gateway has access to a trove of potentially sensitive and valuable data. An M2M/intelligent gateway is therefore a major security asset or liability, dependent on OEMs’ efforts to prevent current and emerging threats from afflicting host networks, or the device itself. Embedded security will be vital to the success of current and future M2M gateway solutions.

M2M Gateway: A compact, flexible class of hardware platform enabling communication between end devices in the field (e.g. actuators, sensors, etc.) and the cloud/internet, with the added functionality and/or flexibility (e.g. multi-standard support) and/or ruggedness of an embedded industrial computer. M2M gateways reside on the edge (i.e. defined boundary) of wired and wireless networks.

Nearly all OEMs we interviewed in support of our upcoming M2M and Intelligent Gateways Market Analysis Report cited data security as a major point of concern. In fact, preliminary findings from our 2014 Annual Embedded Engineer Survey echo this issue; Security Issues are cited as being the most challenging aspect of introducing embedded cloud services through M2M gateways.

Gateway OEMs are implementing a number of technologies and standards within their products to ensure end-to-end data security for end users. For example, Eurotech’s ReliaGATE gateways come standard with support for encryption protocols like 3DES, AES, IPsec, and SSH. ILS Technology’s M2M Asset Gateway platform enables role-based security controls that allow users to segregate asset access in addition to the resources within each asset. Sufficiently addressing the vast array of security threats will require a multi-pronged approach by OEMs on various levels of the gateway solution stack – not only digitally but physically as well in some deployments.

As the IoT continues to spread, so too will the rise in the number of different types of attacks and malicious software. OEMs of M2M gateways will need to ensure proper security of their devices pre- and post-deployment. Over-the-air updates are a fundamental requirement of today’s M2M gateways to ensure protection throughout the lifetime of the device. Embedded security requirements are greater in some vertical applications than others, but all must meet basic protocols to merely ensure network uptime – if nothing else. Security is a major concern for the IoT, and OEMs will be held accountable for breaches and other intrusions on their devices.

To find out more about our M2M & Intelligent Gateways and other Embedded Hardware research, click here.

To view VDC's Security & the Internet of Things research, click here.

5 Key Takeaways from Axeda Connexion 2014

This year’s Axeda Connexion conference in Boston was full of interesting and insightful ideas and views of the future of M2M communications and the Internet of Things. A variety of global enterprises sponsored the event and contributed to various keynotes and sessions including AT&T, Broadcom, Deutsche Telekom, Intel, Oracle, Salesforce, Wipro, and many more. The Internet of Things will have a major impact on traditional business models for embedded hardware players, software vendors, service providers, network operators – everyone throughout the value chain. The change for end users will be as much cultural as it will be technological.

The following are five key takeaways from our time at Axeda Connexion 2014:

The bulk of the M2M opportunity is with assets already deployed today.
The leading industries for M2M solutions, such as Automotive, Industrial Automation, and Oil & Gas, all have equipment and devices featuring long lifecycles and high costs. End users are looking to connect their “dumb” devices and sensors to enable new applications in a very cost-sensitive manner. The need for connectivity in legacy equipment will drive embedded hardware market form factors that can easily augment a system with connectivity – either via modules, new chipsets, peripheral systems, etc.

Security is a paramount concern of IoT development.
Nearly every presentation or keynote highlighted security as a major concern for the development of connected systems. OEMs will need to regularly adjust to new threats in order to preserve the integrity of the device, platform, network, and last but not least, the data. The example frequently cited was the alarming lack of security found in many connected medical devices produced today. Ecosystem players will need to adapt new methods and lines of thinking to preserve trust (brand integrity) with end users when it comes to security in the IoT.

Those who adopt big data applications now will have a tremendous competitive advantage for years to come.
Big data applications such as asset monitoring, analytics, and remote services can enable several internal and external benefits, and these competitive advantages are only increasing due to lagging adoption from competitors. For instance, analytics can provide new insights for future product designs and help facilitate iterative development in an embedded world where time-to-market pressures are constantly growing. Big data applications can also enable newfound efficiencies for internal processes such as field service and operations. Markus Breitbach, Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing of Deutsche Telekom, claims that the ROI of connected solutions is less than a year for most end users.

Strategic partnerships are a requirement for scalability in the IoT.
Integration is the biggest strength of an IoT solution. As the value proposition of an embedded device shifts toward software from hardware, as a result of the proliferation of more-powerful processors, memory, and systems, traditional manufacturers will be required to become more IT-centric to supply more of the solution stack (and services). Doing so will require strategic partnerships with a variety of ecosystem players, particularly when supporting cellular connectivity or international deployments. Rob Sobie, Vice President, Healthcare at Emerson, said at his session (in so many words) that Emerson could never have pursued the IoT market on its own. To put that into perspective, Emerson generated about $24.6B in revenue last year and has approximately 132,000 employees worldwide.

Growth of M2M connectivity will be different for each industry.
Each industry will have its own timeline for adoption of connectivity and big data technology. One concern in areas such as the Medical and Financial industries will be tight regulations surrounding patient/personal data, which are exacerbated by international laws. Consumer applications, though, are already permeating in developed countries with the proliferation of mobile and wearable devices. The Industrial Automation and Energy industries, though, have very clear use cases and tangible benefits from enabling a connected solution, and will continue to be among the driving vertical markets for the IoT.

What we’re excited for this week at Embedded World 2014

VDC Research has made the journey across the Atlantic again this year to the Embedded World tradeshow in Nuremberg, Germany. It is always exciting to see what industry leaders will be announcing and exhibiting at the show, and this year is no exception. The following is a brief list of some of the major exhibitors and announcements to look forward to over the next few days:

AMD
AMD will once again be present at Embedded World. AMD will be offering insight into their brand new Embedded G-Series SoC mini-ITX mainboard. The AMD booth will also feature live demos focused on casino gaming, industrial HMIs, factory automation, industrial tablets, digital signage, medical, security and surveillance, virtualization, and more.

ARM
ARM and Keil will be showcasing the latest edition of Keil MDK-ARM, MDK Professional, and ARM DS-5 Development Studio Professional Edition. MDK-ARM is a complete software development environment for ARM-based microcontrollers. Ease-of-use is a primary trait of the MDK-ARM development environment, though it is also powerful enough for a variety of demanding embedded applications.

IBM
Despite popular belief, IBM will not be selling its chip manufacturing plant, and is instead focusing on finding a joint-venture partner to continue manufacturing its semiconductors used in personal computers, game machines, and other devices. Currently, microelectronics manufacturing accounts for less than 2 percent of IBM’s revenue, but considering IBM’s efforts to find a joint-venture partner to help increase the competitiveness of their semiconductor unit, we’re hoping for some exciting news at Embedded World.

Intel
Intel, along with Wind River and McAfee, will be in attendance at Embedded World where the company will display how it is accelerating the development and deployment of intelligent devices, creating systems by connecting legacy devices to the cloud, and enabling end-to-end analytics to transform businesses with big data. Embedded hardware products such as Intel’s industrial motherboards with the newly developed Q87/ATOM/Bay Trail with fanless design, PCI BUS, and legacy serial ports will be on display amongst other innovative embedded systems.

Qualcomm
Qualcomm will be showing off its new automotive infotainment chipset, the Snapdragon 602A applications processor, featuring a quad-core Krait CPU, Adreno 320 GPU, Hexagon DSP, integrated GNSS baseband processing, and additional high-performance audio, video and communication cores. Qualcomm’s goal is to provide automotive OEMs with unprecedented, integrated connectivity options for connected infotainment systems.

Renesas
Renesas will be busy at Embedded World hosting Europe’s first MCU Car Rally competition; the company is offering the opportunity for teams of students from across Europe to design a self-guided car from a kit of mechanical components, using hardware and software supplied by Renesas. Renesas will also be showcasing a variety of products including the R-Car family of SoCs, industrial Ethernet solutions, RX Functional Safety solutions, and more.

Hardware OEMs Need Not Fear Software Abstraction

Networking has never experienced innovation that would so dramatically benefit the work of software engineers and developers worldwide, until recently. Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Function Virtualization (NFV) are at the center stage of a technological revolution. However, how will these relatively new technologies impact traditional embedded hardware markets? Though SDN and NFV present substantial benefits to networking infrastructures, VDC Research believes SDN/NFV technologies will have only a marginal impact on embedded hardware markets through 2018.

Mobile network carriers and internet service providers now have an answer to further optimizing and improving upon their legacy infrastructures; a blessing disguised as a virtual and mobile network capable of supporting virtual devices disconnected from physical design. SDN and NFV are extremely similar in that both optimize hardware resources via software implementations. More specifically, SDN enables users to program network layers separating the data plane from the control plane. NFV enables agile distribution of networking resources when and where they are needed. With this elevated level of programmability, users can more easily optimize network resources. Service and network providers now have the ability to increase network agility, service quality and  time-to-market, and guarantee a more dynamic, service-driven virtual network.

Because NFV is more focused on the distribution of networking resources for when and where they are needed, the technology’s principal supporters are telecom service providers such as AT&T, BT Group, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefóno, and Verizon. On the other hand, SDN focuses more on enterprise networking and the associated embedded hardware. Software solution providers such as Big Switch Networks, Cisco, Dell, HP, IBM, Juniper, and VMware all offer SDN controllers.

Growth in cloud-based solutions have led more and more companies to rely on SDN and NFV as major components to their technological infrastructure. Through abstracting network hardware with either NFV or SDN, companies are able to take advantage of changing dynamics in the market or application requirements – as opposed to being exposed by them. For example, IT administrators in the past would have to rely on costly ASICs to control network traffic flow. With SDNs, the administrator can manage data traffic in a very effective manner using legacy or other hardware.

NFV is a very straightforward and carrier-driven technology that continues to be increasingly popular in telecom applications. However, the deployment of SDN is not as straightforward. The main issue with SDN is how new the technology is. We recognize that SDN and its relative infancy are problematic for those lobbying to IT budget holders. IT operations are the backbone of many critical business operations, though, and it is important that suppliers reinforce the operational and fiscal advantages of SDN technology.

Not only are SDN and NFV still in their infant stage, but early adopters will be potentially more vulnerable to higher deployment costs, lack of availability of trained people, and insufficient support in open source software (which will become more important as open source software continues expanding in embedded applications and technologies like SDN/NFV). However, SDN and NFV have the potential to greatly increase the effectiveness and manageability of networking functions when fully developed. Despite the vast benefits enabled through SDN/NFV technologies, they will only marginally impact the embedded hardware market through the next several years.

by Conor Peal, Research Associate

Winning Big With M2M – Pamplona Capital Management Increases its Stake

Yesterday, Mac-Grey was acquired by CSC ServiceWorks for a 41% premium over Monday’s share price. This is interesting to us because of the M2M element. The newly combined entity represents a perfect example of what can happen when things coin-operated or otherwise are connected to the cloud.

 Mac-Grey provides M2M enabled commercial laundry products and services. For example, if you owned an apartment building and wished to provide an on-premises laundry room, you might contract with Mac-Grey to provide that service. Mac-Grey would install and manage the washers and dryers and you, as the building owner, could collect a revenue stream without the hassle of owning and maintaining the machines yourself.

The M2M element comes in because Mac-Grey was extremely successful in embedding M2M connectivity into the laundry machines it owns, sells and/or supports. Because of M2M, users can see if machines are available at their facility and receive alerts via a mobile app when their laundry is done. Multiple payment options are now more practical and the business owner and users have the appropriate visibility on machine usage patterns. Service is automatically summoned at the first sign of trouble and Mac-Grey can efficiently assign its staff as needed.

Pamplona Capital is quietly building an M2M-enabled portfolio of companies. CSC ServiceWorks was formed in May, 2013 through the acquisition of CoinMach which was also providing laundry services and Air-Serv, which provides the tire-inflation and vacuum kiosks that you often see at convenience stores and gas stations. In June, the portfolio was increased by the acquisition of Sparkle, a Canadian laundry services firm. Now the portfolio, held by the Pamplona Capital Management, includes Mac-Grey. One would think that leveraging the Mac-Grey M2M expertise along with elements from all the other entities should create an even stronger M2M-enabled set of products and a streamlined service organization to support them.

I imagine that Pamplona's name has something to do with the running of bulls which would be a good thing in financial markets but dangerous otherwise. In this case, running with M2M is a pretty safe bet. 

Intel stacks more chips onto its existing M2M wager

The wagers being played in the high-stakes M2M game are definitely getting higher. As we noted last week, Eurotech, who has long being seen as a leader in edge gateways and M2M solutions, divested its Parvus asset in order to place increased focus on its core markets.

Yesterday, Intel announced a commitment to deliver intelligent gateway solutions in early 2014, offering a combined platform of Intel, Wind River and McAfee products.   These new, pre-validated products will allow embedded computer suppliers and their customers to more easily support M2M deployments targeted at legacy equipment as well as new products. The Intel M2M gateway solutions will be scalable from small deployments of a few supported things using Intel’s new Quark or Atom processors to large-scale deployments driven by higher powered Xeon products.

Why are companies such as Intel and Eurotech so focused on gateways? VDC’s previous and continuing coverage of scalable edge computing products has the answer. Unlike many markets, there is and will continue to be solid growth in all regions as the Internet of Things (IoT) and M2M become increasingly vital for saving operational costs and providing new revenue streams.

In 2014, VDC will again be reporting on intelligent edge node gateways. We look forward to your company’s participation as we shape the report scope and conduct the required research. For more information contact us at [email protected]

Curtiss-Wright is Betting Big on SWAP

In today's earlier blog covering Eurotech’s big bet on M2M, we mainly discussed the Eurotech side of the deal. In this follow-up we will provide VDC's View of the Curtiss-Wright side as we believe they have a shrewd strategy in play. In Parvus, Curtiss-Wright receives a complementary set of mobile computing and networking products that will allow diversification beyond their core Mil/Aero markets into markets such as industrial where ruggedized products with superior Size, Weight, and Power (SWAP) attributes will be increasingly valued. With ~$20M or more in 2012 revenues and an EBITDA of ~25% Parvus is definitely not a white elephant.

In summary, we see the basic business principles behind the Eurotech / Curtiss-Wright deal as being similar to those behind the 2012 blockbuster deal between the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers acquiring  valuable players complementary to their target market and the Red Sox gaining liquidity to pursue a different team building strategy. Given that 2013 finds both the Red Sox and Dodgers well positioned to succeed in the playoffs, one can hope that Eurotech and Curtiss-Wright will also succeed in their pursuits in 2013 and beyond.