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Microsoft Updates Low-Code Azure IoT Central Cloud Service
Microsoft provided an update on new features added to Azure IoT Central, its low-code, software-as-a-service (SaaS) cloud offering for managing Internet of Things assets at scale.
The fully managed service borrows from the burgeoning low-code trend in general app development that's spurred by a growing demand for hard-to-find professional developers. Azure IoT Central promises to free enterprise devs/users from the hassle of managing back-end infrastructure while also obviating the need fore enterprises to hire for new skill sets to create IoT applications.
Microsoft said the SaaS service lets users without any cloud development expertise get started in minutes and create a finished solution within hours, while leveraging built-in security and enterprise-grade Azure services.
The company today (July 3) detailed new features, capabilities and usability improvements that have been added since the preview launched last December.
In a nutshell, they are:
- State measurement: Whereas devices previously could be measured by telemetry or by events triggered, now users can measure their devices qualitatively by defining device states.
- Event monitoring template: Remote monitoring capabilities haven been expanded by new support for device event monitoring, which entails setting up rules to monitor critical device events and receiving alerts within minutes, managed via a simple and intuitive UI.
- Bulk device import and export: Now, users can register large numbers of devices in IoT Central at once, while they previously had to connecting these devices at once, easing a previous manual, error-prone and time-consuming process.
- Location and map services: This provides new geospatial services for many use cases, such as users giving geographic context to their location data and entering location properties, letting them validate location information, spatially reference device locations, or geofence use cases around their device.
- New account management tools: Microsoft said it has made it easier to try out the service by only requiring an e-mail account, eliminating the need for an Azure subscription, along with adding several usability improvements to the administration section of IoT Central.
Azure IoT Central is available in a 30-day trial and otherwise has pay-as-you-go pricing.
About the Author
David Ramel is an editor and writer at Converge 360.