Azure IoT Central is an IoT app platform for solution developers (such ISVs and SIs), and it enables users to connect their devices, manage them, and produce and integrate insights into their enterprise applications to create, deploy, and operate enterprise-grade solutions that they can brand and sell directly to their clients or via Microsoft AppSource.
Azure IoT Central is a comprehensive and dependable solution for “plumbing” IoT applications. It is not, by any means, a complete solution. When solution architects use IoT Central to connect and monitor their devices, as well as to expand device insights into their line-of-business apps, the potential of the platform is exploited. This frees up solution developers’ time and energy to focus on their core competencies, reshaping their businesses through value-added and brand-differentiating components.
Solution developers can go to market with a solution that represents their brand thanks to white labeling. Even though many users prefer to design and construct cloud solutions using individual Azure services, Azure IoT Central lowers the cost of developing and sustaining a PaaS-based solution by delivering a comprehensively maintained platform.
Azure IoT central Pricing, Features and Applications
The Azure IoT Pricing Model is as follows:
| Pricing Tier | Standard Tier 0 | Standard Tier 1 | Standard Tier 2 |
| Use Case | For devices sending a few messages per day | For devices sending a few messages per hour | For devices sending a message every few minutes |
| Price per device per month | $0.08 per Month | $0.40 per Month | $0.70 per Month |
| Monthly device message allocation* | 400 messages | 5,000 messages | 30,000 messages |
| Included free quantities per application | 2 free devices (800 included messages) | 2 free devices (10,000 included messages) | 2 free devices (60,000 included messages) |
| Overage pricing per 1K messages1 | $0.07 per 1K messages | $0.015 per 1K messages | $0.015 per 1K messages |
Benefits Azure IoT Central as your IoT app:
Azure IoT Central is extremely secure, grows with your organization as it grows, guarantees repeatability of your investments, and interacts with existing business applications.
- Extremely secure
- Enterprise-grade
- Predictable pricing
- Industry-focused
Device to Cloud Integration- Plug and Play concept for building IoT solutions
The new IoT Plug and Play feature dramatically enhance the developer experience for both device developers and solution builders. Solution builders can develop solutions that automatically understand the device and start interacting with the devices, all without writing any embedded code.
Existing devices already connecting to and using Azure IoT communication patterns (Device Twins, Direct Methods, Telemetry) can be easily upgraded with minimal code changes. Device developers just need to describe the device capabilities in a model and include this model’s identifier in the connection string.
IoT app templates in IoT Central
Application templates in Azure IoT Central is a tool that can help users get started with developing IoT solutions. App templates can be used for everything from obtaining a sense of what’s possible to fully personalize users’ app to resale to their clients.
IoT template for retail store
Analytics
Many organizations consider their store’s environment to be a crucial distinction from their competition. For the advantage of their customers, retailers aim to keep their stores in a nice state.
To create an end-to-end solution, users can use the IoT Central in-store analytics condition monitoring application template. Using several types of sensor devices, the application template allows users to digitally connect to and analyze a retail store environment. These sensor devices generate data that can be converted into business insights, allowing retailers to lower operational costs and provide a better customer experience.
You can make use of the application template in the following ways:
- Link many types of IoT sensors to an instance of the IoT Central application.
- Maintain the sensor network’s as well as any gateway devices in the environment’s health.
- Develop custom rules based on a store’s environmental circumstances to send notifications to store management.
- Turn the ambient conditions in the user’s store into information that the user’s retail team can utilize to improve their consumer experience.
- Import the gathered data into existing or new business apps to deliver useful and timely data to retail employees.
The application template comes with a variety of device templates and populates the dashboard with simulated devices.
Also, Read Power BI Embedded Pricing for embedded analytics of IoT devices.
Connected logistics
IoT sensors can be used to collect and monitor environmental parameters such as temperature, dampness, tilt, shock, light, and a shipment’s position. In cloud-based business intelligence tools, they can mix data from IoT sensors and devices with other data sources like traffic and weather information.
The following are some of the advantages of a connected logistics solution:
- Monitoring shipments using real-time tracking and reporting.
- Real-time environmental condition monitoring ensures shipment integrity.
- Protection against shipments being stolen, lost or damaged.
- Geo-fencing, route planning, fleet management, and vehicle tracking.
- Predicting when shipments will leave and when they will arrive.
Digital distribution center
As retailers and manufacturers expand their global footprints, their supply chains become increasingly complex. Users today anticipate a wide range of products and for those products to arrive within one or two days of purchasing.
By establishing a digital feedback mechanism, solutions based on IoT-enabled cameras can bring transformative advantages. Data from across the distribution center is used to provide actionable insights, which leads to improved data.
The following are some of the advantages of a digital distribution center:
- As commodities arrive and pass through the conveyor system, cameras watch them.
- Faulty goods are automatically identified.
- Order tracking that is effective.
- Lower expenses, more productivity, and better utilization.
Smart inventory management
The stock of items held by a retailer is referred to as inventory. To guarantee that the appropriate product is in the right place at the right time, inventory management is essential. The expenses of holding too much inventory must be weighed against the costs of not having enough things in store to meet demand.
Data from radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, transmitters, and cameras generated by the Internet of Things can be used to enhance stock management procedures. In cloud-based business intelligence solutions, users can mix telemetry from IoT sensing devices with other sources of data like traffic and weather reports.
The following are some of the advantages of smart inventory management:
- Reducing the likelihood of things being out of stock while maintaining the appropriate quality of customer service.
- In-depth evaluation and near-real-time insights into inventory tracking.
- Tools to assist in determining the appropriate quantity of inventory to make arrangements to meet customer demands.
IoT template for healthcare
Continuous patient monitoring
Continuous Patient Monitoring is one of the primary facilitators of lowering readmissions, addressing chronic diseases more efficiently, and enhancing patient outcomes in the healthcare IoT arena. There are two major types of continuous patient monitoring:
1. In-patient monitoring: Care teams can analyze patient vital signs and medical problems employing medical wearables and other equipment in the hospital instead of sending a nurse to check on a patient numerous times a day. Via notifications, care teams can recognize when a patient requires immediate medical attention and properly allocate their time.
2. Remote patient monitoring: The likelihood of readmission can be reduced by employing healthcare wearables and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) to support individuals outside the hospital. Data from chronic disease and rehabilitation patients can be gathered to guarantee that patients follow their treatment programs and that alarms of patient deterioration can be sent to care teams before they become crucial.
This application template can be used to create Continuous Patient Monitoring solutions for both types of patients.
- Connect several types of medical wearables to an IoT Central instance without difficulty.
- Create custom rules based on device data to send out relevant warnings.
- Export your patient health data to a compliant data repository using the Azure API for FHIR.
- Import the gathered data into current or new enterprise applications.
IoT template for the Energy sector
Meter Monitoring
Smart meters provide sophisticated metering use cases like real-time readings and bi-directional communications, in addition to automated invoicing. Utilities and partners can use the smart meter app template to analyze smart meter status and data, as well as set up alarms and reminders. Meter data can be exported to other business programs and used to create custom solutions.
The following are the main features of the app:
- Model of meter sample equipment
- Energy, power, and voltage data
- Flexibility in developing unique solutions
Solar panel monitoring
The solar panel monitoring software allows utilities and partners to examine solar panels in near real-time, including their energy generation and connection condition. It includes sample commands like firmware updates and other attributes. Data from solar panels can be exported to other corporate programs and used to create unique solutions.
The following are the app’s primary features:
- Model of a solar panel device.
- Information on solar panels and their current situation.
- Solar energy production and other measurements.
- Built-in Dashboards and visualizations.
IoT template for Government
Water Quality Monitoring
Conventional water quality assessment depends on time-consuming and expensive manual sampling methods and field laboratory analysis. Water quality concerns can be treated before citizens are harmed by remotely monitoring water quality in real-time.
Water Quality Monitoring is an IoT Central app template that allows water companies to digitally analyze the quality of the water in smart cities.
The App template consists of:
- Sample dashboards
- Sample water quality monitor device templates.
- Simulated water quality monitor devices.
- Pre-configured rules and jobs.
- Branding using white labeling.
Water Consumption Monitoring
Water Consumption Monitoring is an IoT Central app template that will guide you through the process of creating an IoT solution that will enable water utilities and municipalities to effectively manage water flow remotely in order to minimize consumption.
Water workers manually monitor water consumption meters at meter sites in typical water consumption monitoring. Water consumption monitoring combined with a digital feedback message to citizens can help raise awareness and cut down on water usage.
Connected Waste Management
The Connected Waste Management app is an IoT Central app template that will help you get started with the creation of an IoT solution that will allow smart cities to supervise waste pickup remotely and maximize efficiency.
Security features in Azure IoT central
Users can Integrate IoT SIEM (security information and event management), SOAR (security orchestration, automation, and response), and extended detection and response (XDR) solutions for each and every part of their implementation, such as cloud services and devices, to reduce IoT security issues and protect their people, procedures, and data from attacks.
- Hardware security, multi-layer software defenses, IoT device management, and regenerative security can all be used to harden devices.
- Encryption and certificate-based verification ensure secure connections.
- Secure cloud services with Azure architecture that prioritizes security, privacy controls, and full compliance solutions.
- Agentless asset discovery and threat monitoring, SIEM/SOAR, XDR, and security posture management solutions will help security teams be more effective.
- Minimize vulnerabilities with integrated device, service, and enterprise applications solutions.
Moreover, Microsoft employs more than 3,500 security specialists committed to data security and privacy, and they invest more than $1 billion every year in cybersecurity research and innovation.
EPCGroup as your Azure Consulting Partner- Azure IoT Central
The EPC Group is one of the leading companies in the market today. Being a Microsoft Gold Certified partner, they have the ability to provide excellent Azure consultation services. Moreover, with their cloud development knowledge, the EPC Group can quickly design and set up the user’s IoT solution via Azure IoT Central. The user company can integrate, monitor, and control access to millions of connected products virtually, that too, at any time, thanks to the simple interface.
Azure’s unlimited capabilities enable the EPC Group to provide valuable services to user companies. In exchange, the user company can deliver outstanding customer service, which allows them to stand out from the competition.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, Microsoft’s Azure IoT Central is an IoT SaaS service. It’s an IoT application platform that’s climbing the ranks by simplifying the development of IoT solutions. Azure IoT Central minimizes the administrative effort, operational expenses, and overhead of a typical IoT project by simplifying the initial setup of your IoT solution
