Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently announced the Azure Internet of Things Suite at Microsoft Convergence 2015 in Atlanta. The Azure IoT suite provides the capability to connect with devices and other things alongside the ability to acquire, analyze and visualize data generated from internet-of-things related devices. In addition to the ability to aggregate and analyze IoT data, the Azure IoT suite aims to deliver “finished applications” for use cases such as “remote monitoring, asset management, and predictive maintenance.” Azure IoT features Windows 10 for the Internet of Things as well as Azure Stream Analytics, a preview offering that offers the ability to ingest and analyze massive amounts of streaming data. The Azure IoT suite builds upon the Azure Intelligent Systems Service that Microsoft introduced in April 2014 to make “it easier for enterprises to securely connect, manage, capture and transform machine-generated data from Line of Business (LoB) assets, such as industry devices and sensors, regardless of OS platform.” Azure IoT represents the next step in the evolution of the Azure Intelligent Systems Service that elicited “overwhelming” demand from customers to the point where Microsoft decided to increase the quota of participants who had access to the preview release of the product. Specific details of the Azure IoT suite remain scant, at this stage, but we should expect Microsoft to release a more detailed elaboration of its integrated internet of things platform in the weeks to come.
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