<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" > <channel> <title>Internet of Things</title> <atom:link href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot</link> <description>Microsoft Internet of Things Blog</description> <lastBuildDate>Tue, 03 Oct 2017 16:17:36 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.2</generator> <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">77982353</site> <item> <title>Rockwell Automation revolutionizes manufacturing decision-making with Microsoft IoT technology</title> <link>https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/10/03/rockwell-automation-revolutionizes-manufacturing-decision-making-microsoft-iot-technology/</link> <pubDate>Tue, 03 Oct 2017 16:00:34 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jerry Lee]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Azure IoT Suite]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Honeywell]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Rockwell Automation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Steelcase]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Windows 10 IoT]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/?p=24466</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>For nearly every manufacturer, the holy grail is producing the greatest volume of high-quality products—and that requires optimizing operational efficiency and excellence. Yet many manufacturing companies lack the real-time shop floor visibility they need to make split-second decisions that can boost their profits. At this year’s IoT Solutions World Congress, Rockwell Automation is sharing exactly...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/10/03/rockwell-automation-revolutionizes-manufacturing-decision-making-microsoft-iot-technology/">Rockwell Automation revolutionizes manufacturing decision-making with Microsoft IoT technology</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>For nearly every manufacturer, the holy grail is producing the greatest volume of high-quality products—and that requires optimizing operational efficiency and excellence. Yet many manufacturing companies lack the real-time shop floor visibility they need to make split-second decisions that can boost their profits.</p> <p>At this year’s <a href="http://www.iotsworldcongress.com/">IoT Solutions World Congress</a>, Rockwell Automation is sharing exactly how it’s solving this problem. The world&#8217;s largest company dedicated to industrial automation, Rockwell Automation is helping its customers get real-time operational insight into their manufacturing processes. The key? Integrating the <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/WindowsForBusiness/windows-iot">Windows IoT 10</a> operating system with existing manufacturing equipment and software, and connecting manufacturers’ on-premises infrastructure to the <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-of-things/azure-iot-suite">Azure IoT Suite</a>. By offering its customers a complete IoT solution, Rockwell Automation is enabling them to make on-the-spot decisions—while equipping them with the advanced analytics they need to optimize their operations.</p> <p>The typical manufacturing company owns machines and software from multiple vendors, making it a tremendous challenge to consolidate information. Take a packaging line, for example. To optimize its operations, a manufacturer may need to monitor many variables. Yet until now, this was nearly impossible to accomplish in real time. An experienced operator might have manually observed manufacturing equipment while it was running to make sure it was operating properly. And at the end of the shift, a supervisor might have manually gathered production data while examining two or three production variables from a computer interface.</p> <p>To help its customers track all their operational variables, Rockwell Automation is building Windows IoT 10 into its suite of Logix control systems, installing its own software and applications from third-party vendors directly on its customers’ manufacturing equipment. Not only does the solution enable manufacturers to make adjustments to their equipment in real time, but it seamlessly connects a customer’s IT environment to Azure IoT Suite so it can securely perform advanced analytics in the cloud.</p> <p>In the case of the packaging line, the result is that all 15 variables can be examined simultaneously—enabling manufacturers to make quick adjustments without waiting until the end of the shift. “We’ve moved the time it takes to make decisions from hours to milliseconds,” says Dan DeYoung, market development director at Rockwell Automation.</p> <p>What’s more, data can be processed both at the edge, allowing for fast decisions, and in the cloud, where machine learning and predictive analytics can be applied to optimize each operational variable based on past performance. “It’s really simple and seamless to move data into the cloud,” says John Dyck, software business development director at Rockwell Automation. “And if customers want to apply machine learning or predictive analytics, they can do so without additional complexity.”</p> <p>A key benefit of the Rockwell Automation platform is that manufacturers can add new applications without having to rip-and-replace their existing hardware. Moreover, the solution is based on familiar Microsoft technologies, making it easier for customers to manage. “Customers don’t need to be IT experts to use Rockwell Automation products with Windows 10 IoT,” says Keith Staninger, global business director at Rockwell Automation. “It’s a way to reduce the learning curve and still have that rich data directly available on the plant floor.”</p> <p>For its part, Rockwell Automation now has a flexible and scalable platform that’s positioning the company for future growth. “We can reuse applications and tailor them for different outcomes and products in the architecture,” says DeYoung. “That really helps speed our time-to-market and enables us to scale for different purposes.”</p> <p><strong>Microsoft’s IoT customer portfolio continues to grow</strong></p> <p>In addition to building on our relationship with Rockwell, Microsoft continues to strengthen its customer portfolio with recent wins announced at the Microsoft Ignite and Envision conferences last week. For example, Steelcase, a company with a 105-year history of designing for workplaces, is using Microsoft IoT technology to help organizations create workplaces that better meet the needs of the people who use them. With a network of wireless infrared sensors built upon the Microsoft Azure IoT platform, the company is analyzing which spaces are being used, which are not, and the possible reasons why.</p> <p>Similarly, multinational company Honeywell is harnessing Microsoft Azure and Azure IoT Hub to create a new family of connected products for the home called Lyric. Lyric helps homeowners lower their energy usage, identify water leaks and break-ins, and handle other property issues from afar—saving them money by enabling them to deal with problems early. These are just a few companies that are tapping into the innovative capabilities of Microsoft IoT technology to improve their operations and create new revenue opportunities.</p> <p>For more information on how businesses are using the power of IoT to transform their businesses, read the Rockwell Automation <a href="https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcustomers.microsoft.com%2Fdoclink%2Frockwell-automation&amp;data=02%7C01%7Ckateb%40microsoft.com%7C4537d7151ab34c5afcfd08d507638c65%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C636423046496191641&amp;sdata=4JcsSLzPUHNCHgLmFSFqyzkcBgVR%2FsFxUAaIhvohjqY%3D&amp;reserved=0">case study</a>. Also, please read our recent <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/26/steelcase-demonstrates-smart-connected-workplace-new-iot-powered-solutions/">Steelcase</a> and <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/transform/2017/09/28/honeywells-connected-home-portfolio-powered-by-azure-helps-save-money-and-provides-peace-of-mind/">Honeywell blog posts</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.InternetofYourThings.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22980" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2018/03/ioytCTA_v4.png" alt="" width="250" height="50" /></a></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/10/03/rockwell-automation-revolutionizes-manufacturing-decision-making-microsoft-iot-technology/">Rockwell Automation revolutionizes manufacturing decision-making with Microsoft IoT technology</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24466</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Steelcase Demonstrates the Smart and Connected Workplace with New IoT-Powered Solutions</title> <link>https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/26/steelcase-demonstrates-smart-connected-workplace-new-iot-powered-solutions/</link> <pubDate>Tue, 26 Sep 2017 12:55:01 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jerry Lee]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[productivity]]></category> <category><![CDATA[sensors]]></category> <category><![CDATA[smart workplace]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Steelcase]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/?p=24484</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>To come up with big ideas, new products and stay ahead of the competition, organizations are asking employees to solve wicked problems – many of which haven’t been defined yet. Creative problem solving requires different kinds of work. People need to come together to collaborate, break apart to develop their own ideas, and then come...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/26/steelcase-demonstrates-smart-connected-workplace-new-iot-powered-solutions/">Steelcase Demonstrates the Smart and Connected Workplace with New IoT-Powered Solutions</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>To come up with big ideas, new products and stay ahead of the competition, organizations are asking employees to solve wicked problems – many of which haven’t been defined yet. Creative problem solving requires different kinds of work. People need to come together to collaborate, break apart to develop their own ideas, and then come back together to iterate. This ebb and flow requires different kinds of places and technologies. The old office created for efficiency no longer works. The problem is people say they can’t find the right spaces to get their job done, yet we know prized real estate sits empty. There is a lack of real-time data in the workplace to help companies figure out what’s working and what isn’t.</p> <p>Research conducted by Microsoft and Steelcase reveals 43 percent of workers do not think their office is a great place to do creative work, although nearly three-quarters (72 percent) believe their future success depends on their ability to be creative. These workers pointed out issues such as a lack of private spaces, insufficient or ill-equipped conference rooms that make it difficult to collaborate and unattractive environments. These issues may also mean that valuable work space is being underutilized. In fact, Steelcase research found that it is common for almost half (46 percent) of an office’s spaces to go unused at any time.</p> <p>This is why <a href="https://www.steelcase.com/">Steelcase</a>, a company with a 105-year history of designing for workspaces, developed a cloud-enabled space-sensing network to help organizations create workplaces that respond to the needs of people while also optimizing real estate investments. Using a network of wireless infrared sensors built upon the Microsoft Azure IoT platform, <a href="https://www.steelcase.com/products/workplace-optimization-analytics/steelcase-workplace-advisor/">Steelcase Workplace Advisor</a> can deliver advanced analytics around the clock, making it possible to receive real-time statistics alongside enterprise reliability and security. Steelcase then takes this information and layers their own expertise on top of it, giving organizations the ability to see exactly how their spaces are being used.</p> <p><a href="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/09/Steelcase_PA_FindTeammates_02.png"><img class="alignleft wp-image-24613" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/09/Steelcase_PA_FindTeammates_02.png" alt="" width="282" height="686" /></a>After measuring anonymous occupancy information, the sensors then send it to the Steelcase platform, where it is analyzed by an algorithm and measured against historical utilization. This data can then be viewed in aggregate on a dashboard to determine which spaces are being used, which are not and possible reasons why. For example, the ability to pair spaces with their attributes, such as whiteboards or an abundance of natural light, can help an organization understand why certain rooms get booked constantly while others do not. Users can also measure scheduled use vs. actual use, then tell Workplace Advisor to automatically cancel room reservations if no one shows up.</p> <p>In addition, the Steelcase Personal Assistant mobile app will work with Workplace Advisor data to help employees quickly and easily discover the best place to work. They can search based on room size, room type, specific amenities, and more. They can also locate individual employees by zone, or view a map that allows them to view available spaces in either real time or throughout the day, then make a booking as needed.  Plus, if there is ever a unique issue, such as a faulty piece of equipment, users can even write in their own requests and recommendations on the app. It gives control of the work environment back to the employee. All of this data exists beneath a layered defense strategy, built on top of Microsoft Azure, that consists of protective tools, such as firewalls and encrypted gateways, as well as 24/7 active monitoring, to help ensure complete privacy.</p> <p>“Workers need a variety of spaces and technologies to help get their jobs done and be creative. Yet, often the spaces they do have sit empty as people say they can’t find the right places to do the work they need to do. Real-time data can help organizations create better workplaces for people,” says Scott Sadler, Steelcase Smart + Connected manager. “By embedding technology into the work environment, we are enabling people to tell organizations what spaces are successful and why. We can measure and identify patterns in how and where people are working. But data alone is meaningless; to improve performance individuals and organizations need trusted insights into what works, what doesn’t and why.”</p> <div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='995' height='590' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/7_5AZIRh2VE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe></div> <p>As advanced as it is, the Steelcase Workplace Advisor and Personal Assistant represent just the beginning. Because it’s powered by Microsoft Azure, Steelcase is able to easily expand and scale future Smart + Connected offerings. In the near future, they plan on integrating Workplace Advisor with Office 365, Microsoft Exchange and other IoT-enabled enterprise systems, such as unified communication, lighting, and HVAC. This will not only make it simple for employees to schedule rooms and find colleagues in real-time, but will also create a dynamic environment that reacts to their needs. For instance, the workplace will be able to automatically adjust lighting based on pre-set configurations, dial into remote workers, detect when specific employees have left or entered a room, notify other teams when a meeting is running late, and much more. All this is exciting evidence that we are finally transitioning into a truly intelligent workplace that is flexible, creative and ultimately more productive for everyone involved.</p> <p><a href="http://www.InternetofYourThings.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22980" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2018/03/ioytCTA_v4.png" alt="" width="250" height="50" /></a></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/26/steelcase-demonstrates-smart-connected-workplace-new-iot-powered-solutions/">Steelcase Demonstrates the Smart and Connected Workplace with New IoT-Powered Solutions</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24484</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Microsoft Ignite 2017: Leading Innovation for IoT</title> <link>https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/25/microsoft-ignite-2017-leading-innovation-iot/</link> <pubDate>Mon, 25 Sep 2017 13:59:00 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Sam George]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Azure IoT Edge]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Azure IoT Suite]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Dynamics 365]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ignite]]></category> <category><![CDATA[IoT Hub Device Provisioning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[IoT Hub Device SDKs]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Micron]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT Central]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Partner]]></category> <category><![CDATA[remote monitoring]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ST Microelectronics]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/?p=24339</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Adoption of Internet of Things solutions across industries continues to accelerate, and Microsoft is leading on innovation to power these solutions. This year alone we announced a large set of breakthrough services and capabilities coming to the market: Microsoft IoT Central – A new IoT SaaS offering that dramatically accelerates time to value and requires...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/25/microsoft-ignite-2017-leading-innovation-iot/">Microsoft Ignite 2017: Leading Innovation for IoT</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Adoption of Internet of Things solutions across industries continues to accelerate, and Microsoft is leading on innovation to power these solutions. This year alone we announced a large set of breakthrough services and capabilities coming to the market:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Microsoft IoT Central </strong>– A new IoT SaaS offering that dramatically accelerates time to value and requires no cloud solution development expertise.</li> <li><strong>Azure IoT Suite </strong>– Azure IoT Suite is a great accelerator for custom IoT solutions that provisions in minutes. Today we’re announcing a new microservices architecture for the Remote Monitoring pre-configured solution, bringing easier customization, a beautiful new user experience, new language support and a dramatically lower price.</li> <li><strong>Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service</strong> – An industry first, this new service enables rapid and error free “plug and play” provisioning of IoT devices, dramatically simplifying deployment.</li> <li><strong>Azure IoT Edge</strong> – Today we’re also announcing new breakthrough capabilities for our industry first Azure IoT Edge service. These new capabilities enable IoT devices to run cloud intelligence services on them directly, such as Azure Machine Learning, Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Functions and even our AI Cognitive Services.</li> <li><strong>Azure Time Series Insights</strong> – An industry first cloud-based IoT-scale time-series data store that includes a powerful user experience, enabling any knowledge worker to find insights into IoT data in minutes.</li> <li><strong>New Security Innovations </strong>– At Microsoft we take security seriously and we’re committed to raising the bar across the industry. For example, we recently published a paper that identifies what makes a device highly secure and used those insights to set a new security standard, which is supported by Azure IoT as well as TPM2.0.</li> </ul> <p>At <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ignite/default.aspx">Microsoft Ignite</a> in Orlando this week, we’ll be showcasing the amazing work of customers and partners who have built cutting edge solutions on top of this technology, and highlighting the latest innovations from Microsoft for the Internet of Things (IoT).</p> <h2>Azure IoT Suite</h2> <p>Two years ago, we launched the Azure IoT Suite, which dramatically simplified deploying an end to end working IoT solution that can then be customized to meet any need.</p> <p>At Ignite, I’m excited to showcase our latest update to the Azure IoT Suite’s Remote Monitoring solution. This lower cost solution accelerator, available as open source in .NET and Java, has a brand new user interface and has been built for extensibility and scale.</p> <p>Built using a microservices architecture, the updated Remote Monitoring pre-configured solution offers development speed without compromising on scale or agility. The new architecture dramatically simplifies the ability to customize the solution to meet your needs.</p> <p>We will have talks at Ignite that go into depth on the new Remote Monitoring pre-configured solution.</p> <h2>Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning</h2> <p>We recently announced the public preview of the <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-iot-hub-device-provisioning-service-preview-automates-device-connection-configuration/">Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service</a>. This new industry first service dramatically simplifies the job of provisioning IoT devices to a solution.  It works in harmony with Azure IoT Hub to help solutions enable zero-touch “plug and play” provisioning of IoT devices.</p> <p>Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service enables customers to pre-register devices and centrally control which IoT Hub each device should be connected to. It even supports re-provisioning so you can move devices between IoT Hubs. Once a device connects to its IoT Hub, it can be provisioned with the correct software, firmware and configuration using IoT Hub’s Device Management capabilities.</p> <p>Check out our sessions at Ignite for an in-depth look at this new service.</p> <h2>Azure IoT Edge</h2> <p>IoT Gateway devices are a critical part of the IoT puzzle. These devices start smaller and less capable than a Raspberry Pi and come in a range of hardware capabilities even beyond PC class devices. They perform a set of critical functions in an IoT solution, such as connecting to additional IoT devices (in a “gateway” configuration) and providing security isolation for them. They can also perform tasks such as adapting to existing machine protocols, storing device telemetry and more.</p> <p>Azure IoT Edge is our cross-platform runtime that makes using these devices in your Azure IoT solution easy, and it has been generally available since November 2016.</p> <p>Earlier this year, we announced set of breakthrough capabilities we’re working on adding to Azure IoT Edge, including the ability for Azure IoT solutions to deploy cloud intelligence <em>directly</em> on IoT devices running Azure IoT Edge. These solutions include Azure Machine Learning, Azure Stream Analytics, Azure Functions and Azure Cognitive Services – all on cross-platform devices with as little as 128MB of memory. This enables cloud processing to happen right at the point of collection, reducing the cost of an IoT solution and ensuring that this processing continues to run even if there is a local network interruption.</p> <p>At Ignite, we’ll showcase the great progress we’re making with these new Azure IoT Edge capabilities and show how customers are adopting them.</p> <h2>Azure Time Series Insights</h2> <p>Most IoT data being sent to the cloud is the result of taking sensor readings at some interval. For example, measuring engine RPM speed every second. This type of data is referred to as ‘time-series’ based data. Up until now storing, indexing, analyzing and visualizing this data was an exercise left to the reader. Worse, finding insights into this common type of IoT data required sophisticated techniques, putting those insights out of the reach of some enterprises.</p> <p>To simplify this and bring insights into the hands of every day knowledge workers, earlier this year we announced the public preview of Azure Time Series Insights. The response from customers has been phenomenal and at Ignite we’ll be talking about the next set of features for Azure Time Series Insights as well as how customers are already benefitting.</p> <h2>New Security Innovations</h2> <p>Microsoft has a long history of leading in security innovations and IoT is no exception. Recently we published <a href="https://aka.ms/7properties">an important paper</a> that describes the 7 properties of a highly secure device. The paper is based on insights we have gained with our own devices, and now we are taking that learning to standards organizations like the Trusted Computing Group, as a new standard named the Device Identifier Composition Engine (DICE).</p> <p>Azure IoT now supports this standard, as well as TPM2.0, and at Ignite we are announcing support for <a href="http://www.microchip.com/Developmenttools/ProductDetails.aspx?PartNO=DM990012">DICE from Microchip</a>. Our existing partnerships with STMicroelectronics, Micron and Spyrus are also enabling a variety of hardware to be used with Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service.</p> <p>Microsoft is committed to building end to end secure IoT infrastructure through a host of security features, programs such as Security Program for Azure IoT and variety of hardware partnerships. Join us at Ignite for a dedicated talk on IoT Security that covers all of this in great detail.</p> <h2>Customer Momentum</h2> <p>Throughout the show, we’ll be sharing stories of customers using these new technologies to securely scale and enhance their IoT deployments.</p> <p>For example, we will show how Grundfos, a global manufacturer of HVAC systems and water pumps, is using Azure IoT Suite to predict the maintenance needs of their smart pumping solutions. These solutions can isolate faulty pipes and reroute water to where it’s supposed to go. With Azure IoT Suite and Microsoft Dynamics 365, Grundfos added remote monitoring and maintenance to these systems, reducing costs and saving time in responding to emergencies.</p> <p>Their solution uses Azure IoT Hub for a fully-managed service, enabling secure, two-way communication between Grundfos’ pumps and a customer’s monitoring console. With the Azure IoT Device SDK, they can collect pump data in real time and synthesize it with Microsoft Dynamics 365.</p> <h2>Come See Us</h2> <p>We’ll keep you updated on everything happening at Ignite this week. If you’re attending Ignite make sure to stop by and see our sessions, say hello and give us your feedback. We love our customers – and innovating to solve their IoT needs is what drives us.</p> <p><em><strong>For further reading: </strong></em></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/the-next-generation-of-azure-iot-suite-accelerates-iot-solutions/">The next generation of Azure IoT Suite accelerates IoT solution</a></li> <li><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/certified-iot-partners/">Azure Certified IoT Trusted Partners</a></li> <li><a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/iot-hub/iot-hub-devguide-sdks">Azure IoT Hub Device SDKs</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-of-things/iot-central-saas-solutions">Microsoft IoT Central</a>, our <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/04/20/microsoft-simplifies-iot-further/">SaaS offering for simplifying IoT</a></li> <li><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-new-functionality-to-automatically-provision-devices-to-azure-iot-hub/">Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning</a></li> <li><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-iot-hub-device-provisioning-service-preview-automates-device-connection-configuration/">Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service preview automates device connection and configuration!</a></li> <li><a href="https://trustedcomputinggroup.org/work-groups/dice-architectures/">Device Identifier Composition Engine (DICE)</a></li> <li><a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/enabling-true-zero-touch-secure-identity-management-for-iot-devices/">Provisioning for True Zero-Touch Secure Identity Management for IoT</a></li> </ul> <p><em>Azure IoT Customers:</em></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://customers.microsoft.com/en-us/story/hershey-office365">The Hershey Company</a></li> <li><a href="https://customers.microsoft.com/en-us/story/hershey-office365">Schneider Electric</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-of-things/customer-stories#manufacturing&amp;rollsroyce">Rolls Royce</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-of-things/customer-stories#manufacturing&amp;cummins">Cummins</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-of-things/customer-stories#manufacturing&amp;sandvikcoromant">Sandvik</a></li> <li><a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/?p=24496">Grundfos</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/home">Microsoft Dynamics 365</a></li> </ul> <p><em>Supported HSM manufacturers for Azure IoT:</em></p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/partner/partner-program/partnerpage/Microsoft_IoT.html">STMicroelectronics</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.micron.com/about/blogs/2017/may/micron-addresses-iot-security-with-new-authenta-technology-in-flash-memory">Micron</a></li> <li><a href="https://developer.spyrus.com/azure-iot-hub/">Spyrus</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.microchip.com/Developmenttools/ProductDetails.aspx?PartNO=DM990012">Microchip</a></li> </ul> <p><em>Ignite sessions to check out:</em></p> <ul> <li>Sam George’s session: <a href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/53891?source=sessions">Enable IoT Scenarios with Edge Computing</a></li> <li>Sam and Olivier Bloch’s session: <a href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/53240?source=sessions">Enable Edge Computing with Azure IoT Edge</a></li> <li>Olivier’s session: <a href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/53364?source=sessions">Get Started Developing with Azure IoT</a></li> <li>Olivier and Nicole Berdy’s session: <a href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/55087?source=sessions">Zero Touch Device Registration with Azure IoT</a></li> <li>Cory Newton-Smith and Hector Garcia Tellado’s session: <a href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/55085?source=sessions">Building Reliable IoT Solutions in the Cloud, Fast</a></li> <li>Arjmand’s session: <a href="https://myignite.microsoft.com/sessions/53710?source=sessions">Towards a trustworthy internet of things</a></li> </ul> <p><a href="http://www.InternetofYourThings.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22980" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2018/03/ioytCTA_v4.png" alt="" width="250" height="50" /></a></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/25/microsoft-ignite-2017-leading-innovation-iot/">Microsoft Ignite 2017: Leading Innovation for IoT</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24339</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Protecting our water and preserving our energy with IoT</title> <link>https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/25/protecting-water-preserving-energy-iot/</link> <pubDate>Mon, 25 Sep 2017 13:53:49 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jerry Lee]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Azure IoT Hub]]></category> <category><![CDATA[customer story]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Grundfos]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Manufacturing]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/?p=24496</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>In developed countries we give little thought to whether our water is clean or how it got there. But for more than 40 percent of the world’s population having a clean, sufficient water supply isn’t reality. In some cities, the U.N. has found that in some cities, up to 70 percent of the water is...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/25/protecting-water-preserving-energy-iot/">Protecting our water and preserving our energy with IoT</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In developed countries we give little thought to whether our water is clean or how it got there. But for more than 40 percent of the world’s population having a clean, sufficient water supply isn’t reality. In some cities, the U.N. has found that in some cities, up to 70 percent of the water is lost due to leaks and pipe bursts.</p> <p>Grundfos, a global leader in advanced pumping solutions and water technology, is doing its part to provide everyone with access to clean water and sanitation, and <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/internet-of-things/azure-iot-suite">Azure IoT</a> is part of the process. Since opening its doors in 1945, Grundfos has produced energy-efficient pumps that move water to where it should be, whether for drinking, for treatment, or for crops.</p> <p><a href="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/09/IMAGE_1_Comp4_A.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-24523" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/09/IMAGE_1_Comp4_A.jpg" alt="" /></a></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Currently, Grundfos manufactures more than 16 million pumps a year that feature its smart pumping solutions, which identify and isolate faulty pipes and reroute water to its intended location. Through the collective power of Microsoft Azure, the Azure IoT Suite and Microsoft Dynamics 365, Grundfos has increased the intelligence of its solution and added remote monitoring and maintenance services that will reduce costs and save time responding to emergencies.</p> <div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='995' height='590' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/RURi-gw5dZE?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe></div> <p>With the Azure IoT Hub, the company’s solution can establish a fully-managed service that enables secure, two-way communication between its pumps and a customer’s monitoring console. Using Azure IoT Edge, it can then collect pump data in real time and synthesize it with Microsoft Dynamics 365.</p> <p><a href="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/09/IMAGE_2_Comp4_A.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-24520" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/09/IMAGE_2_Comp4_A.jpg" alt="" /></a></p> <p>Armed with the resulting insights, Grundfos’ smart pumps can predict, prevent, and react to issues as they arise. And if the weather forecast calls for excessive rainfall, Grundfos can use that external data to help isolate water and prevent flooding. This sets the stage for new services that add value for customers, improve disaster relief and sanitation, and save lives.</p> <p>Safeguarding the water supply isn’t Grundfos’ only concern. Water pumps consume roughly 10 percent of the world’s electricity supply, making it a key contributor to climate change. With the predictive analytics abilities in Cortana Intelligence, Grundfos has the potential to forecast when power usage is at its lowest and reschedule pumps to work during off-peak hours.</p> <p>Clearly, there is more to be done, but with the power of Azure IoT, Grundfos is helping to ensure that the global water supply is safe, reliable and efficient.</p> <p>Check out <a href="https://customers.microsoft.com/en-us/story/grundfos">the full customer story</a> to learn more about Grundfos’ intelligent pump solution.</p> <p><a href="http://www.InternetofYourThings.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22980" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2018/03/ioytCTA_v4.png" alt="" width="250" height="50" /></a></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/25/protecting-water-preserving-energy-iot/">Protecting our water and preserving our energy with IoT</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24496</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Five ways edge computing will transform business</title> <link>https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/19/five-ways-edge-computing-will-transform-business/</link> <pubDate>Tue, 19 Sep 2017 16:00:02 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[cloud infrastructure]]></category> <category><![CDATA[edge]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft Azure IoT Edge]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/?p=24405</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>The Internet of Things (IoT) has been called “the mother of all infrastructures”—and it’s a revolution that has arrived. IoT is no longer just a niche solution for a handful of businesses but a core technology that’s fundamentally transforming how we work and live. And interestingly, it’s spurring an entirely new computing model called edge...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/19/five-ways-edge-computing-will-transform-business/">Five ways edge computing will transform business</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Internet of Things (IoT) has been called “the mother of all infrastructures”—and it’s a revolution that has arrived. IoT is no longer just a niche solution for a handful of businesses but a core technology that’s fundamentally transforming how we work and live. And interestingly, it’s spurring an entirely new computing model called edge computing, which promises to forever alter how businesses interact with the physical world.</p> <p>Edge computing refers to data processing power at the edge of the network, closer to the source of data. With edge computing, each device—whether it be a smartphone, drone, sensor, robot, HVAC unit, autonomous car, or other intelligent device—takes some of the data processing performed by the cloud and packages it up for processing and analysis at the edge.</p> <p>Consider this: In just two years, <a href="https://www.idc.com/research/viewtoc.jsp?containerId=259856">45 percent of all data</a> created by IoT will be stored, processed, analyzed, and acted upon close to or at the edge of the network. And in just three years, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-brings-iot-to-the-edge-2017-5">5.6 billion devices</a> will be connected to an edge computing solution.</p> <p>Several factors are fueling the growth of edge computing. As the cost of sensors and processors decreases, the number of intelligent devices has been skyrocketing. By 2020, it’s predicted that 50 billion things will be connected to the Internet. These devices will send trillions of messages—exponentially increasing loads across the network as well as the quantity of data that can be turned into actionable insights.</p> <p>At the same time, the pace of business is intensifying, with instantaneous reaction times becoming a critical competitive advantage for many industries. Edge computing can help businesses very rapidly and inexpensively analyze and store portions of their data closer to where it’s needed, making it an important complement to cloud computing.</p> <p><strong>A valuable strategic advantage</strong></p> <p>As edge computing goes mainstream, it provides a major strategic benefit for a wide range of industries. Here are five ways edge computing will transform businesses in the near future:</p> <ol> <li><em>Lowering IoT solution costs</em>: Edge computing allows you to process and analyze mission critical data closer to the device itself, reducing the amount of data that flows back and forth between the cloud and the edge of the network. Businesses can select which services run at the edge and what data gets sent to the cloud, lowering IoT solution costs and obtaining the most value from their overall IoT solution.</li> <li><em>Added security and compliance</em>: Edge computing helps to address the security and compliance requirements that have prevented some industries from using the cloud. With edge computing, companies can filter out sensitive personally identifiable information and process it locally, sending the non-sensitive information to the cloud for further processing.</li> <li><em>Faster response times</em>: Without a round-trip to the cloud, data latency is reduced, lowering the time it takes to glean actionable insights from that data. In this way, edge computing is poised to help autonomous vehicles avoid collisions, stop factory operations before equipment fails—and improve any situation requiring the instantaneous analysis of data.</li> <li><em>Dependable operation even with intermittent connectivity</em>: Edge computing enables manufacturing equipment and other smart devices to operate without disruption even when they’re offline or Internet connectivity is intermittent. This makes it an ideal computing model for businesses that count on the ability to quickly analyze data in remote locations such as ships, airplanes, and rural areas—for instance, detecting equipment failures even when it’s not connected to the cloud.</li> <li><em>Interoperability between new and legacy devices</em>: Edge computing converts the communication protocols used by legacy devices into a language that modern smart devices and the cloud can understand, making it easier to connect legacy industrial equipment with modern IoT platforms. As a result, businesses can get started with IoT without investing in expensive new equipment—and immediately capture advanced insights across their operations.</li> </ol> <p><strong>A complement to the cloud</strong></p> <p>It’s important to note that, in the same way PCs haven’t displaced the datacenter, edge computing will complement rather than replace cloud computing. Most businesses will use a combination of both depending on the problem at hand—processing some data locally, and sending some to the cloud for analysis.</p> <p>While edge computing will be used in situations like those we’ve described here, the cloud will continue to provide critical value for many other scenarios. For example, businesses will continue to use the cloud to configure, deploy, and manage IoT devices, and for analyzing large datasets from dispersed sources—especially when instantaneous action isn’t needed.</p> <p>But what’s truly exciting is what happens when you combine the power of cloud and edge computing to deliver the true value of IoT. Suddenly businesses will be able to analyze and take action on different types of data with incredible agility and precision, giving them a critical advantage against their competitors.</p> <p>Edge computing will power the next wave of business transformation. The time to start is now, to avoid the risk of getting left behind. To learn more, please see our recent blog post, “<a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/05/10/microsoft-azure-iot-edge-extending-cloud-intelligence-to-edge-devices/">Microsoft Azure IoT Edge – Extending cloud intelligence to edge devices</a>,” and visit the <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/campaigns/iot-edge/">Azure IoT Edge</a> website.</p> <p><a href="http://www.InternetofYourThings.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22980" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2018/03/ioytCTA_v4.png" alt="" width="250" height="50" /></a></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/19/five-ways-edge-computing-will-transform-business/">Five ways edge computing will transform business</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24405</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Bringing the Internet of Things to life at World Congress IT 2017</title> <link>https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/11/bringing-internet-things-life-world-congress-2017/</link> <pubDate>Mon, 11 Sep 2017 16:00:14 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Asia]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hershey]]></category> <category><![CDATA[innovation]]></category> <category><![CDATA[RAC]]></category> <category><![CDATA[SkyAlert]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Stockrose]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Taiwan]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Tatung Group]]></category> <category><![CDATA[ThyssenKrupp]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/?p=24324</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>The decreasing cost of IoT sensors. The increase in mobile devices. The scale of cloud-based platforms. Advances in traditional analytics as well as machine learning and artificial intelligence. These are the trends that will enable almost every industry to adopt and create IoT solutions in the next few years. Faced with this pace of change...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/11/bringing-internet-things-life-world-congress-2017/">Bringing the Internet of Things to life at World Congress IT 2017</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The decreasing cost of IoT sensors. The increase in mobile devices. The scale of cloud-based platforms. Advances in traditional analytics as well as machine learning and artificial intelligence.</p> <p>These are the trends that will enable almost every industry to adopt and create IoT solutions in the next few years. Faced with this pace of change and disruption, companies are wondering how to plan, implement, and keep up. They need the right people and the right technology to build a digital vision that will empower employees, engage customers, optimize operations, and transform products.</p> <p>Microsoft has been working with customers and partners across multiple industries and regions to enable this digital transformation, and today we’re seeing a new paradigm — an intelligent cloud with an intelligent edge. Companies are building new experiences that are multi-device, multi-sense and not bound by any particular computing experience.</p> <p>This week at the <a href="http://iotbusiness-platform.com/iot-taiwan/">World Congress on Information Technology </a> and Microsoft’s IoT Expo running concurrently in Taipei, Taiwan, Jason Zander, CVP, Microsoft Azure discussed how some companies are using new capabilities to change their business with IoT — and announced new resources Microsoft is bringing to the region to help more customers and partners realize their vision for the network edge.</p> <h3><strong>A new OPC UA testing lab in Taiwan </strong></h3> <p>During the event, Zander announced a new lab for Industrial IoT to enable devices and solution partners in Asia for the Open Platform Communication–Unified Architecture (OPC UA) gateway protocol, based on the Azure IoT intelligent edge framework.</p> <p>OPC UA is a nonproprietary protocol that is seeing growing adoption and has become one of the standards for Industry 4.0. While it is an open protocol that enables devices to easily share data, it is also a secure protocol for IoT Hub-assisted communication that allows companies to develop new IoT solutions with the firewall closed, so production doesn’t need to stop.</p> <p>In addition to empowering customers and partners in the APAC region, the announcement also furthers Microsoft’s support for the OPC Foundation—a collection of large companies who collaborate on the protocol.</p> <h3><strong>Federated Labs</strong></h3> <p>Zander also announced a new “Federated Lab” model for Microsoft labs, to build up strategic alliances and bring together engineering resources for developing vertical IoT solutions.</p> <p>From a business perspective, organizations who join the federated lab will be able to connect with allied parties through IoT Innovation Centers at Microsoft, to strengthen their IoT service value-chain and broaden global outreach. Through the federated lab partnership, companies can attain technical readiness training for Microsoft IoT, including Azure IoT Services, PCS, Data Analytics platform, and Cognitive Services.</p> <p>Customers and partners can also join the discussion on use cases and business models for vertical IoT solutions, and share design and development guidance, reference architecture and industrial practices in collaboration with other federated lab partners.</p> <h3><strong>Customers transforming their business with IoT</strong></h3> <p>IoT, along with analytics, advanced AI, and machine learning are the key enablers of this transformation. Microsoft Cloud technologies are designed to bring all of these assets together, from infrastructure to PaaS to bots, and customers all over the world are using the Microsoft cloud to transform their production lines and service delivery:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Tatung Group: </strong>With a history stretching back nearly a century, Tatung is exploring new business models with multiple IoT services across consumers, enterprises, factories, buildings, and cities. Over the last two years, Tatung has utilized Azure IoT Suite to build a shared services IoT platform with multiple vertical offerings—energy management, fleet management, retail beacons, and Tatung Smart Appliances, and is working to further improve their service level with AI-powered proactive maintenance services.</li> <li><strong>Hershey: </strong>Ingredients like chocolate and licorice are sensitive: One or two degrees in the wrong direction could mean discarding an entire batch. Using Azure IoT and Azure Machine Learning, iconic snack brand Hershey was able to build predictive algorithms to ensure the licorice extruders on the Twizzler’s production line are performing at peak optimization, saving more than $0.5M a year. Hershey plans on expanding the solution to more expensive ingredients–such as chocolate–to help reduce waste and increase savings.</li> <li><strong>SkyAlert: </strong>Mexico is subject to eight times more earthquakes than the U.S., but their early warning system for civilians operates only in Mexico City and relies on outdated technology. SkyAlert built its own early-warning solution using sensors strategically placed in buildings around the city and is sending the data to Azure IoT Hub for processing. The solution is 100 percent accurate and reliable, can be expanded to new cities within a matter of three months, and best of all, can alert millions of citizens to pending earthquakes up to 2 minutes before they strike – allowing more time to seek safety.</li> </ul> <p><a href="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/09/expoblog.png"><img class="wp-image-24351 size-full aligncenter" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/09/expoblog-e1505163686357.png" alt="" width="1176" height="662" /></a></p> <p>These companies join others like <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2016/09/15/microsoft-azue-iot-suite-and-hololens-enable-revolutionary-solutions-for-thyssenkrupp-elevator/">thyssenkrupp</a>, <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/07/20/roadside-assistance-provider-the-rac-revolutionizes-customer-service-with-iot/">RAC</a> and <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/02/21/swedish-apartments-transform-into-smart-buildings-with-iot-makeover/">Stockrose</a> in embracing Microsoft Cloud technologies and collaborating with partners worldwide to build groundbreaking IoT solutions with intelligence at the network edge.</p> <p>Only Microsoft has all the pieces to enable this transformation from the cloud, to the edge and back again, and with these announcements, we’re deepening our commitment to providing not just the technologies, but the tools and expertise to innovate with IoT.</p> <p><a href="http://www.InternetofYourThings.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22980" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2018/03/ioytCTA_v4.png" alt="" width="250" height="50" /></a></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/11/bringing-internet-things-life-world-congress-2017/">Bringing the Internet of Things to life at World Congress IT 2017</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24324</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service is now in public preview</title> <link>https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/06/azure-iot-hub-device-provisioning-service-is-now-in-public-preview/</link> <pubDate>Wed, 06 Sep 2017 16:05:48 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Announcement]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Azure IoT Hub]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Device Provisioning Service]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/?p=24084</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Setting up and managing Internet of Things (IoT) devices can be a challenge of the first order for many businesses. That’s because provisioning entails a lot of manual work, technical know-how, and staff resources. And certain security requirements, such as registering devices with the IoT hub, can further complicate provisioning. During the initial implementation, for...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/06/azure-iot-hub-device-provisioning-service-is-now-in-public-preview/">Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service is now in public preview</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Setting up and managing Internet of Things (IoT) devices can be a challenge of the first order for many businesses. That’s because provisioning entails a lot of manual work, technical know-how, and staff resources. And certain security requirements, such as registering devices with the IoT hub, can further complicate provisioning.</p> <p>During the initial implementation, for instance, businesses have to create unique device identities that are registered to the IoT hub and install individual device connection credentials, which enable revocation of access in event of compromise. IT staff also may want to maintain an enrollment list that controls what devices are allowed to automatically provision.</p> <p>Wouldn’t it be great if there was a secure, automated way to remotely deploy and configure devices during registration to the IoT hub—and throughout their lifecycles? With Microsoft’s IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service (DPS), now in public preview, you can.</p> <p>In a post on the Azure blog, &#8220;<a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-iot-hub-device-provisioning-service-preview-automates-device-connection-configuration/">Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service preview automates device connection and configuration!</a>&#8220;, Sam George explains how the IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service can provide zero-touch provisioning that eliminates configuration and provisioning hassles when onboarding IoT devices that connect to Azure services. This allows businesses to quickly and accurately provision millions of devices in a secure and scalable manner. In fact, IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service simplifies the entire device lifecycle management through features that enable secure device management and device reprovisioning. Next year, we plan to add support for ownership transfer and end-of-life management.</p> <p>DPS is now available in the Eastern U.S., Western Europe, and Southeast Asia. To learn more about how Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service can take the pain out of deploying and managing an IoT solution in a secure, reliable way, <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-iot-hub-device-provisioning-service-preview-automates-device-connection-configuration/"><u>read our blog post</u></a> announcing the public preview. And for technical details, check out Microsoft’s <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/iot-dps/"><u>DPS documentation center</u></a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.InternetofYourThings.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22980" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2018/03/ioytCTA_v4.png" alt="" width="250" height="50" /></a></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/09/06/azure-iot-hub-device-provisioning-service-is-now-in-public-preview/">Azure IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service is now in public preview</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">24084</post-id> </item> <item> <title>A framework for evaluating your IoT infrastructure security</title> <link>https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/08/29/a-framework-for-evaluating-your-iot-infrastructure-security/</link> <pubDate>Tue, 29 Aug 2017 16:00:16 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[IoT infrastructure]]></category> <category><![CDATA[IoT security]]></category> <category><![CDATA[IoT Security Evaluation Framework]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/?p=23979</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Merging the cyber and the physical aspects of security for an Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure is a tall order for many businesses. That’s because it requires an end-to-end strategy to secure far-flung components that can include IT systems, operational controls, cloud services, physical devices and sensors, and consumer technologies. Securing the IoT will demand...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/08/29/a-framework-for-evaluating-your-iot-infrastructure-security/">A framework for evaluating your IoT infrastructure security</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Merging the cyber and the physical aspects of security for an Internet of Things (IoT) infrastructure is a tall order for many businesses. That’s because it requires an end-to-end strategy to secure far-flung components that can include IT systems, operational controls, cloud services, physical devices and sensors, and consumer technologies.</p> <p>Securing the IoT will demand that businesses identify cyber and physical threats to their IoT infrastructure, determine the consequences of these threats, and carefully evaluate security strategies. This requires close collaboration among device manufacturers, resellers, deployers, solution developers, and cloud providers—a huge challenge given varying priorities of these stakeholders. Other roadblocks include a lack of standards for IoT security, disparate hardware and software capabilities, and a range of communications protocols and control systems.</p> <p>Nonetheless, the risks of an IoT-based attack are too consequential to ignore. Consider the October 2016 DDoS attack on Dyn, an Internet DNS provider. The powerful assault harnessed connected devices like DVRs, webcams, and cable set-top devices to take down hundreds of websites around the world. At great cost: The financial impact alone of a DDoS attack can cost a company $250,000 an hour.[1]</p> <figure id="attachment_23988" style="width: 960px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/08/Figure-1-Microsofts-IoT-Security-Evaluation-Framework-summary.png"><img class="wp-image-23988 size-full" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/08/Figure-1-Microsofts-IoT-Security-Evaluation-Framework-summary.png" alt="An overview of Microsoft’s IoT Security Evaluation Framework " width="960" height="540" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">An overview of Microsoft’s IoT Security Evaluation Framework</figcaption></figure> <p>Also consider that risks are amplified as more equipment and devices are connected in the IoT. Traditional threats extend to a broader range of interlinked systems, and the IoT introduces a new level of risk as it links physical equipment and consumer technologies like self-driving automobiles and connected medical devices. Nefarious activity can result in threats to human safety and even loss of life.</p> <p>The first step to mitigate these risks will be to identify the threats that are most relevant. In addition to DDoS attacks, these can include breach of personal data, communications interception, natural disasters, physical attack, and hijacking.</p> <p>This evaluation should factor in the entire lifecycle of an IoT infrastructure design, deployment, and operations. We recommend a critical threat-modeling analysis of infrastructure to discover the most likely threats and define actionable mitigation.</p> <p>And because IoT devices often ship with disparate operating systems, computational capabilities, and access-control methods, a review of authentication and access-control schemes is also important. Consider, for instance, that devices typically come with default passwords enabled—and businesses often do not implement strong passwords. After deployment, companies should continue ongoing risk assessments of devices and make sure that a disciplined firmware update policy is followed.</p> <p>Another critical action is network traffic analysis. IoT devices employ a variety of network topologies and communications protocols, and a standards-based approach can improve compatibility and security. As more manufacturing, facility management, and critical infrastructure organizations embrace the IoT, they should ensure that specialized protocols like SCADA systems are secure.</p> <p><strong>The right security evaluation framework</strong></p> <p>The components of an IoT security framework will vary among businesses, and each organization will need to design evaluation strategies that deliver the most value in time and money.</p> <p>Microsoft’s IoT Security Evaluation Framework is a good place to start. It’s a step-by-step guide for assessing IoT infrastructure that uses existing threat models, links threats to consequences, and defines evaluation strategies that can detect flaws in IoT infrastructures. Whether you have already implemented an IoT infrastructure or are in the process of designing or deploying one, Microsoft can show you how a comprehensive IoT security framework can help grow, scale, and transform your business. To learn more, download our whitepaper, <a href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/D/3/9/D3948E3C-D5DC-474E-B22F-81BA8ED7A446/Evaluating_Your_IOT_Security_whitepaper_EN_US.pdf">Evaluating Your IoT Security</a>.</p> <div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='995' height='590' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/0BDcyjIuSyo?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe></div> <p>[1] Neustar, <a href="https://ns-cdn.neustar.biz/creative_services/biz/neustar/www/resources/whitepapers/it-security/ddos/neustar-2017-worldwide-ddos-attacks-cyber-insights-research-report.pdf"><em>Worldwide DDoS Attacks &amp; Cyber Insights Research Report</em></a>, May 2017.</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/08/29/a-framework-for-evaluating-your-iot-infrastructure-security/">A framework for evaluating your IoT infrastructure security</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23979</post-id> </item> <item> <title>Updates to Azure Time Series Insights simplify analysis of IoT data</title> <link>https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/08/24/updates-to-azure-time-series-insights-simplify-analysis-of-iot-datax/</link> <pubDate>Thu, 24 Aug 2017 16:00:22 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[announcements]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Azure Time Series Insights]]></category> <category><![CDATA[webinar]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/?p=23916</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>The unprecedented volume of data generated by the Internet of Things (IoT) has made analysis of time-series data a powerful way to gain actionable insights into business performance. This type of analytics can help companies uncover hidden trends, conduct root-cause analyses, and quickly validate IoT solutions. Yet collecting, managing, visualizing, and analyzing time-series data at...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/08/24/updates-to-azure-time-series-insights-simplify-analysis-of-iot-datax/">Updates to Azure Time Series Insights simplify analysis of IoT data</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The unprecedented volume of data generated by the Internet of Things (IoT) has made analysis of time-series data a powerful way to gain actionable insights into business performance. This type of analytics can help companies uncover hidden trends, conduct root-cause analyses, and quickly validate IoT solutions.</p> <p>Yet collecting, managing, visualizing, and analyzing time-series data at scale and in near-real time is a tall order for even the most capable of companies. That’s because sensors and connected devices can generate billions of data points every day, and businesses lack a centralized view of data and the ability to perform a unified query. Combining and visualizing disparate data types—in particular, time-series data and reference data—is daunting because organizations typically use multiple, non-integrated tools and techniques.</p> <p>Microsoft is addressing these challenges in a new update to the public preview of <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/root-cause-analysis-and-time-exploration-updates-to-azure-time-series-insights/">Azure Time Series Insights</a>, a managed cloud service that provides a global view of IoT-scale data with real-time visibility into time-series data across all locations. Updates to Time Series Insights include:</p> <ul> <li>Streamlined management of time-series data in the Azure Portal.</li> <li>Documentation on reference data API that makes it easier to combine time-series data with more static reference and historical data—and build custom solutions.</li> <li>A dynamic search span that allows businesses to customize and run repeatable queries using a single template, as well as use relative time spans in queries.</li> <li>A new feature that surfaces statistically significant patterns and enables users to quickly perform root-cause analyses and post-mortem investigations.</li> <li>Several new usability improvements to time navigation that help streamline triage and diagnosis.</li> <li>A time brush tool that makes it easier to move between time ranges when diagnosing sensor data.</li> <li>Updates to the JSON data interchange format that add the ability to import multi-content JSON payloads.</li> </ul> <figure id="attachment_23925" style="width: 2009px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><a href="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/08/TSI_animation.gif"><img class="wp-image-23925 size-full" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2017/08/TSI_animation.gif" alt="A GIF showing patterns in the Time Series Insights stats tab and addition of a pattern as a new term. " width="2009" height="1099" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">A GIF showing patterns in the Time Series Insights stats tab and addition of a pattern as a new term.</figcaption></figure> <p>One company that’s benefiting from Microsoft’s IoT solutions is EcoLab, a leading provider of water and energy services that is creating a system to help its industrial customers reduce water use. Leveraging the <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/suites/iot-suite/">Azure IoT Suite</a>, EcoLab has combined approximately 10TB of time-series data like water use with sales and other data to help visualize and identify patterns. Azure has helped the company address an inherent IoT challenge: The ability to combine and analyze time-series data from operations processes around the world.</p> <p>Microsoft will continue to update and add functionality to Time Series Insights while in public preview. To find out more about how we are building the leading platform for analyzing time-series data, read <a href="https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-time-series-insights-api-reference-data-ingress-and-azure-portal-updates">our blog post</a> announcing new Time Series Insights capabilities. You can also <u><a href="https://info.microsoft.com/azureiot-unlock-insights-in-time-series-data-9-19-register.html">register</a></u> for our upcoming webinar, “Quickly unlock insights hidden in your time series data,” on September 19, 2017 from 10:00-11:00 a.m. PDT .</p> <p><a href="http://www.InternetofYourThings.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22980" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2018/03/ioytCTA_v4.png" alt="" width="250" height="50" /></a></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/08/24/updates-to-azure-time-series-insights-simplify-analysis-of-iot-datax/">Updates to Azure Time Series Insights simplify analysis of IoT data</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23916</post-id> </item> <item> <title>How Drenthe College Used IoT to Solve Its Scheduling Problems</title> <link>https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/08/22/how-drenthe-college-used-iot-to-solve-its-scheduling-problems/</link> <pubDate>Tue, 22 Aug 2017 16:00:09 +0000</pubDate> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jerry Lee]]></dc:creator> <category><![CDATA[Featured]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Microsoft IoT]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Azure IoT Hub]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Drenthe College]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Machine learning]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Winvision]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">http://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/?p=23877</guid> <description><![CDATA[<p>Drenthe College, based in the Netherlands, faced a problem that many educational facilities often encounter: their students and faculty were having a hard time finding free class and meeting spaces. The lack of room availability was surprising at first. In order to accommodate their growing body of 11,000-plus students, Drenthe College had constructed a number...</p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/08/22/how-drenthe-college-used-iot-to-solve-its-scheduling-problems/">How Drenthe College Used IoT to Solve Its Scheduling Problems</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="https://www.drenthecollege.nl/">Drenthe College</a>, based in the Netherlands, faced a problem that many educational facilities often encounter: their students and faculty were having a hard time finding free class and meeting spaces.</p> <p>The lack of room availability was surprising at first. In order to accommodate their growing body of 11,000-plus students, Drenthe College had constructed a number of new buildings in the past 10 years, yet all this extra space was still not being used efficiently. Measurements of afternoon usage revealed that, in some buildings, up to 35 percent of the rooms were empty. Paradoxically, students and faculty were still spending up to 15 minutes searching for an available room. Clearly, something was wrong.</p> <p>While Drenthe College was already attempting to predict classroom usage by counting students and teachers within a given period, the administration knew they needed a better way to measure capacity. They also wanted to update their scheduling system, which was originally designed for rigid class schedules and could not handle more rapid, on-the-fly meetings. As a result, rooms had to be requested well in advance, resulting in artificial bookings that made it difficult to discover which rooms were actually available.</p> <p>To remedy this, Drenthe College turned to <a href="http://www.winvision.nl">Winvision</a>, a Microsoft CityNext partner, to implement a scheduling solution that would make the process of finding meeting spaces much easier and more efficient. Rather than count the number of students and faculty, Winvision decided to discover underutilized spaces by installing over 500 Bluetooth-enabled sensors throughout Drenthe College that could track movement and sound to determine whether or not a room was being used. These sensors also measured factors such as temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels, giving the school a comprehensive view of their rooms.</p> <p>All this data was then sent through Azure IoT Hub, which connected to the school’s scheduling system and used Azure Stream Analytics to provide real-time updates about each room. In addition, Drenthe College deployed Azure Machine Learning to better predict room availability over the next several days, giving students and faculty a reliable way to schedule their meetings in advance.</p> <div class="jetpack-video-wrapper"><iframe class='youtube-player' type='text/html' width='995' height='590' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pc6yAWdcRR0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;autohide=2&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;wmode=transparent' allowfullscreen='true' style='border:0;'></iframe></div> <p>Winvision also worked with the Drenthe College IT team to develop a mobile app, enabling students and faculty to see, at a glance, whether a room is available, what sort of amenities it has, its current temperature, and humidity. If they wanted, they could even use this app to broadcast their location, making it easy for other students and faculty to find exactly where they are.</p> <p>Prior to the solution’s launch in September 2016, overall room usage stood around 65 percent. Since then, it has jumped to as high as 85 percent. Whereas students and teachers were previously spending 10 to 15 minutes trying to find a free space, they are now able to easily look ahead and book an available room immediately. “It’s much faster and easier to plan not just a meeting space but also our time,” Arnoud Wonnink, an E-Commerce instructor at Drenthe College, said. “The mobile website is just what we needed.”</p> <p>What’s more, by using IoT-connected technology, Drenthe College has been able to realize other benefits as well. For instance, because their sensors can detect environmental factors, such as temperature and whether lights are on, the school has been able to gain more control over their infrastructure and maintenance costs, and save as much as €150,000 ($163,897) a year. They have also used this system to track the location of school laptops and even predict the dropout risk for students, giving them valuable time to intervene.</p> <p>The success of Drenthe College is just the beginning. Already, Winvision has helped install over 3,000 additional sensors at colleges around the Netherlands, all of which are connected to Microsoft Azure systems due to their adaptability and scalability. Because these systems have been shown to demonstrate increased engagement and serve as an attractive selling point for prospective students, many schools are even integrating this type of IoT technology into their building and planning processes. All this spells a bright future for students and teachers in the Netherlands — as well as for anyone who cares about more efficient and successful schools.</p> <p>To learn more about Drenthe College’s smart campus solutions, <a href="https://customers.microsoft.com/en-us/story/drenthe-college-education-office-365">read the customer story</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.InternetofYourThings.com"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-22980" src="https://mscorpmedia.azureedge.net/mscorpmedia/2018/03/ioytCTA_v4.png" alt="" width="250" height="50" /></a></p> <p>The post <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot/2017/08/22/how-drenthe-college-used-iot-to-solve-its-scheduling-problems/">How Drenthe College Used IoT to Solve Its Scheduling Problems</a> appeared first on <a rel="nofollow" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/iot">Internet of Things</a>.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">23877</post-id> </item> </channel> </rss>