The machine-to-machine (M2M) industry is focused on extending its reach beyond niche verticals. Key players across the industry want to gain access to verticals where there are opportunities to support mainstream consumer-scale deployments involving tens of millions of endpoints. But progress toward the mainstream is being slowed by technology fragmentation, a lack of industry wide standards and complex device onboarding processes. Progress is also being hindered by the fact that consumers do not yet fully trust M2M solutions with their devices and data. Network operators are well positioned to help the M2M industry address these challenges and move forward. With platforms that allow them to merge their trusted remote device management and onboarding expertise with standardized M2M functions, network operators can reach more devices and verticals, deliver more value to customers and secure a stronger role in the M2M market.