In April, Microsoft announced a new service to help alleviate the layers of headaches that can accompany building software for the Internet of Things. The solution, called IoT Central, is touted as an end-to-end, cloud-based software as a service to help developers build and support the back end of their connected devices.
IoT Central promises to be great fit for companies that want to realize the benefits of connected devices but may not have the necessary resources to do so.
Consider a manufacturer of specialized industrial equipment that could better maintain its products in the field with always-connected, real-time monitoring. The manufacturer may have very few software developers to begin with. Perhaps none at all. Creating an IoT development team from scratch would be expensive in both time and money. The developers already there may not have the necessary skills to build an IoT solution in-house.
This is where IoT Central plays its part, the gap between building an Internet of Things device and connecting it. IoT Central promises to greatly simplify the various technology layers necessary to keep IoT devices up and running, smoothing out typically complex configuration and deployment procedures. Plus, since IoT Central is built atop Microsoft’s Azure cloud, it boasts the reliability, scalability, and security of Azure.
For now, IoT Central is locked away behind a product page, but hopefully it will be available soon. You can register here to receive updates on the service as they’re rolled out. Anyone currently developing IoT devices, or who has already deployed their own but finds the back-end maintenance and upkeep exhausting, should definitely check out IoT Central for themselves.
Do you have an IoT project in the works? Are you fed up with your current IoT solution and ready to see what Microsoft can offer? Let us know in the comments below, or on Twitter and Facebook.