IOTech Announces Edge Central to Unlock Valuable Data at Industrial Edge

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 15, 2023 — IOTech, a leader in open edge computing, has announced the general availability of Edge Central, a flexible, open edge data platform that makes industrial data easily accessible, actionable and manageable. Edge Central is a complete solution, delivering all the features and functionalities organizations need to manage and utilize their edge data. A commercialized version of the EdgeX Foundry platform, the world’s top open-source edge data platform, Edge Central allows businesses to build edge environments without the risk of vendor lock-in.

Valuable industrial edge data is typically locked within a vast array of Operational Technology (OT) systems. But these systems are highly heterogenous – they come from different vendors, feature different characteristics and capabilities, and the components within these systems can’t readily communicate with one another. As a result, organizations struggle to access, analyze and make use of that data.

“There is tremendous value in edge data, but extracting that value can be extremely difficult, even for large industrial organizations. More of these organizations are looking for an Edge-as-a-Service experience where they can immediately leverage data to support new applications and use cases without having to spend months or years figuring out how to collect, process and manage it,” said Andrew Foster, Product Director of IOTech. “Edge Central delivers that type of streamlined experience, empowering customers to innovate and use their edge data to support their broader business goals.”

Edge Central provides a number of capabilities to help organizations leverage edge data, including:

• Connectivity and control: Edge Central provides seamless connectivity to southbound OT devices and sensors at the edge. Many connectors for a variety of industrial protocols are currently available, with easy-to-use tooling to help connect and control the edge. Device SDKs are also available to create more connectors as needed.
• Robust data processing: Edge Central aggregates edge data for sensor fusion and is delivered with easy to use rules engines and analytics packages. Standard APIs enable customers to effortlessly supplement or replace the default services if necessary.
• Seamless data flow to and from the cloud: The platform makes it simple to share edge data to a choice of northbound Cloud and IT systems. Built-in support for steaming to the main clouds like AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google, and IBM are provided, along with the additional flexibility to create more integrations with a northbound Application SDK.
• Modular and open: Utilizing a modular and flexible microservices architecture, Edge Central allows complete control of resources and functionality required for each use case. Users can also plug in their own microservices built against IOTech’s standard APIs and open SDKs.
• Support for any device: Edge Central is hardware, operating system and processor agnostic so organizations can run it on their choice of edge computing device. Users typically run Edge Central on IoT gateways, Industrial PCs (IPCs) or edge servers, but the Edge Central containers can easily run on any target device.

“Edge environments are often highly complex and heterogeneous. Taking a piecemeal, proprietary approach to building an edge deployment can be a slow process, fraught with costs and limitations imposed by single vendor solutions,” said Dave McCarthy, Research Vice President, IDC. “IOTech Edge Central is an open, comprehensive edge solution that makes it easier for companies to use best-of-breed services and grow their edge deployment at their own pace.”

By simplifying edge data management, Edge Central allows industrial organizations to quickly derive ROI from their edge deployments and advance critical business objectives. Key customer benefits include:

• Lower costs: With an open, software-defined platform to build upon, organizations save money by switching from expensive, proprietary solutions to commoditized hardware and software.
• Faster time to market: Edge Central brings all an organization’s OT data together in a single format and place, allowing them to quickly support new edge applications.
• Hidden complexity: Edge Central shields customers from the complexity typically associated with OT edge deployments so they can focus solely on their business needs.
• Plug-and-play apps: The platform allows customers to plug-and-play value-add business applications.
• Deploy and manage at scale: Edge Central includes a sophisticated and scalable edge management capability that enables users to efficiently provision and monitor edge nodes; configure, orchestrate, monitor and update their applications; and onboard their OT devices and sensors.

“Our customers’ journey usually begins with EdgeX Foundry. When these industrial companies start to research edge solutions, they find that an open architecture with an ecosystem of partners is the most attractive option. They try experimenting with EdgeX, which quickly demonstrates the power of an open, agile platform,” said Foster. “Once they’re ready to take the next step on their journey and begin deploying apps in full production, they come to IOTech and, with the help of platforms like Edge Central, are able to create a commercial quality edge solution.”

Edge Central is available now. For more information, visit www.iotechsys.com.

About IOTech

IOTech solves the industrial data problem at the edge. Used by the leading providers and consumers of industrial edge solutions, IOTech’s edge software makes industrial data easily accessible, actionable, and manageable. Based on EdgeX, the world #1 open-source data integration platform, IOTech has created a flexible plug-and-play, open-edge distributed OT connectivity, data compute platform, and edge management toolset. IOTech’s edge software significantly reduces the time-to-value equation and protects edge/ industrial IoT investment beyond the IT lifecycle.

Source: IOTech