Google buying IoT platform Xively from GoToMeeting parent LogMeIn

Google announced that it’s buying IoT platform Xivley, which was owned by LogMeIn. The reported purchase price was $50 million.

Xivley offers cloud-based IoT infrastructure for third parties seeking to make connected devices or turn existing devices into IoT appliances. It also accelerates IoT time to market for third-party manufacturers.

In a blog post today announcing the acquisition, Google said:

This acquisition . . . will complement Google Cloud’s effort to provide a fully managed IoT service that easily and securely connects, manages, and ingests data from globally dispersed devices. With the addition of Xively’s robust, enterprise-ready IoT platform, we can accelerate our customers’ timeline from IoT vision to product, as they look to build their connected business.

This will bring potentially millions of devices and appliances in the future into the Google Cloud and IoT ecosystem. The move complements several of Google’s existing businesses and key initiatives. It also potentially gives the company competitive advantages.

It will put Google at the center of IoT development, the smart home and a broader product universe. The amount of data Xively supported devices will yield will be mind-boggling. Google could potentially use all this data in multiple ways; it will gain insight into how millions of consumers interact with products, inside and potentially outside the home. Also, imagine every home appliance being compatible with Google Home and the Google Assistant.

The company cites Gartner estimates arguing that by 2020, “about 20 billion connected things will come online.” That’s a massive ecosystem with some significant revenue implications.