Microsoft announces general availability of Microsoft Azure IoT Hub

Microsoft has announced the general availability of Microsoft Azure IoT Hub, a solution built on the company's existing work with the Internet of Things (IoT). The platform provides an easy and secure way to connect, provision and manage billions of Internet of Things (IoT) devices, said Sam George - Microsoft’s Partner Director for Azure IoT, in a blog post. 

"For businesses today, we believe that the Internet of Things (IoT) represents not only the next major wave of computing, but also the next competitive advantage. Harnessing signals and untapped data from existing and new devices unlocks powerful insights. Companies are realising how quickly their businesses will improve just by knowing more about their ‘things,’ such as where they are at any given time or predicting maintenance needs to ensure zero downtime. And that is just the start," said George in the post.

According to George, IoT Hub connects customers’ devices and cloud solutions so that they can store, analyse and act on that data in real time. "IoT Hub enables secure, reliable two-way communication—from device to cloud and cloud to device—over open protocols such as MQTT, HTTPS and AMQPS that are already widely used in IoT. Finally, IoT Hub makes it simple to integrate with other Azure services, such as Azure Machine Learning to find deep insights that power IoT businesses, and Azure Stream Analytics to act on those insights in real time by simultaneously monitoring millions of devices and taking action," he said.

The company is also providing preconfigured IoT solutions that can be automatically provisioned in minutes with the Azure IoT Suite. Announced September 2015, the Azure IoT Suite enables customers to quickly provision a working, customisable end-to-end IoT solution.

George also shared that the Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT programme, also announced last September, features a growing number of members. Arduino, Beagleboard, Freescale, Intel, Raspberry Pi, Samsung and Texas Instruments are initial certified partners.

"Over the past three-plus months, nearly 30 industry leaders have joined the programme. Today, even more are announcing their participation, including Advantech, Dell, HPE, and Libelium. Each of these partners brings their own unique perspective and value proposition to the IoT landscape, and we’re thrilled announce such widespread industry involvement in Azure Certified for IoT," he said. 

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