7 Must-Have Features of an Edge IoT Platform

With Edge data centers proliferating faster than ever, these unmanned data centers face new management challenges with the onslaught of IoT, 5G, and distributed cloud-based applications. And now, in a pandemic crisis, secure connectivity and reliable remote management is paramount in maintaining uninterrupted uptime while adhering to social distancing rules and employee safety measures.

The 451 Research Data Centers Senior Analyst, Jeffrey Fidacaro described edge as “the infrastructure topology that supports the IoT applications.”  He underscores the importance of building a “unified edge/IoT strategy” that taps into infrastructure options.

Managing IoT Flood Gates

There will be 125 billion IoT devices, and cellular IoT connectivity will grow to 3.5 billion devices by 2030, as predicted by Ericsson Mobility Report. This IoT connectivity unleashes floods of data–Cisco expects to exceed 800 zettabytes.

Considering this, enterprises can’t manage and operate critical facilities without an IoT integrated solution to collect, organize and transform all that data into actionable analytics for sound business decisions.

Edge data centers are ever more critical to our “always-on” connected world and IoT networks. Built closer to end devices, these facilities fulfill users’ demand for reduced response times. Managing thousands of geographically distributed critical facility locations –nationally and globally – requires facility and data monitoring tools installed in all sites–often located in remote, hard-to-reach, and access sites that require 24x7 monitoring to maintain uninterrupted uptime. Yet, around-the-clock monitoring of edge sites and protection of these assets are managed without onsite employees.

To gain full control of their facilities, edge data center operators need access and the ability to mine all the data from their critical infrastructure and the IoT devices. And the most efficient way to collect, organize and deliver this data is to deploy an IoT platform.

With many IoT platform offerings available in the market, weeding through to select the best-in-class platforms with critical features is essential to edge data center operators. Here is a list of can’t do without features of an IoT platform you must have before signing the dotted line.

Comprehensive IoT Toolkit

Toolkits can be easily tailored to your business needs and include all the essential tools needed to build an IoT solution right out of the box–and compiled into an intuitive web management console. The IoT appliance for each edge site must be simple to install without requiring programming and proprietary technology–and support a wide selection of data topologies with the capability to internally and simultaneously manage a wide range of protocols, including BacNet, Modbus, SNMP, MQTT, and raw serial strings.

Cost-Effective Pricing

Transparent pricing is essential. As are features for connection to cloud analytics services and third-party applications without the cost and hassle of on-site programming and can be easily wired to your subsystems or devices without additional costs or new equipment and systems.

Highly Scalable

Quickly scale to meet your needs, collect and manage data from one location or across a portfolio of thousands of global locations allowing you to harness critical insight on operations and efficiency without limiting portfolio size or future.

Open Integration

Without any major overhauls, integrate into/with your existing systems– including BMS – no matter what equipment, software or the technology you are currently using. This will improve business decisions using the data already available collectively under one management tool.

Hard-Wired Ethernet Connectivity

The best-in-breed IoT platform appliance should enable information access and communications through hard-wired ethernet connectivity to connect cellular communications for backup. The platform should also offer an outbound, internet-capable IP port (or cellular connection) to allow secure data transport - resolving issues of connectivity with various data sub-systems.

No Commissioning Required

Rapid provisioning of newly deployed data centers without required onsite commissioning is essential. This makes the availability of a single source Bit API a requirement for all the analytics by any edge data center provider.

Cloud-Based

To simplify connections and the IoT platform setup, cloud connectivity, and accessibility are critical. Cloud access will reduce costs and eliminate time-consuming on-site programming needs.

Without any major interruptions to business processes, edge data center facility operators can integrate an IoT Platform to gain access to all their critical data and issue a work order while gaining outlier detection and security. By managing operational costs by monitoring energy spend in real-time, operators can also gain real-time access to usage analytics, equipment maintenance, distribution planning, and facility deployments. Selecting the ideal IoT platform will empower you to access the best of actionable analytics for sound business decisions and get the edge off!