When it comes to the Internet of Things (IoT), partnerships are key. That’s why AT&T is integrating its IoT platforms with IBM’s Watson IoT Platform, Bluemix, and the IBM Cloud.

That means that developers using AT&T’s Flow Designer and M2X platforms can deploy apps on IBM Cloud and also have access to many IBM Watson cognitive APIs and IBM Bluemix services.

Plus, developers using Watson and Bluemix will have access to AT&T’s IoT platforms to get better data analytics from devices.

Both companies also have agreed to expand their investment in open-source tools such as Node-Red and machine-to-machine connectivity protocols like MQTT.

AT&T also is working with IBM on a starter kit that will make it easier for developers to start projects. Once the starter kit is completed, developers will be able to purchase the combined AT&T and IBM technologies in one toolkit.

This latest AT&T/IBM IoT deal is just one of many IoT-related partnerships and collaborations that have occurred during the past few months. Analysts say that companies are forging IoT deals to make it easier for industrial customers to actually make IoT a reality. The collaboration is also helping ease the industry’s fragmentation issues, which have prevented many IoT deployments from progressing.

IBM has been busy racking up partnerships. The company announced in early June that it is collaborating with Cisco to combine Watson IoT and business analytics with Cisco’s edge analytics. The goal of that partnership is to allow IoT customers better access to real-time data from the cloud to the edge of the network.

And in another IoT cloud play, earlier this week GE Digital said it will make its Predix IoT platform available on Microsoft Azure.

GE also signed a deal with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) to combine Predix with HPE’s hardware and to deliver real-time analytics from the edge to the cloud. In addition, GE will use HPE for its virtual infrastructure.