Overcoming the IIoT Application Creation Flexibility Vs Cost Challenge

At IoT83, many customers come to us only after they have already invested either in Low-Code / Rapid Application Development (RAD) platform solutions or in IoT-as-a-Service (IoTaaS) development and have a strong need to make a change. The “Low-Code” customers have hit a wall in terms of flexibility, scalability, portability, and sometimes the security Low-Code alternatives offer and they want a path to really offer strategic differentiation. The “IoTaaS” customers have already made heavy investments in learning curves, development, and time, but even after this see continued very high costs and low velocity in building and deploying strategic applications. While some parts of these IoTaaS solutions may work well (often the edge data ingestion slice), the time and cost to build and maintain a complete IoTaaS Platform Layer – to say nothing of the new application creation cost - is just not not financially feasible.

We love engaging with customers to solve these problems, because IoT83 has been focused on resolving this major conflict in the Industrial IoT platform ecosystem – between flexibility and cost & time-to-market - since founding the business. The fundamental conflict is this:

? First, almost all enterprise-grade solutions inevitably need custom applications to really deliver the kind of differentiation or specialization that an OEM or Operator needs to set them apart and win in the market.

? But at the same time, this customization and differentiation has to be affordable and efficient to build and manage. So the “Platform” for this must enable the velocity, flexibility, time-to-market and time-to-revenue to make this possible – but at a reasonable cost. Low-Code solutions can’t handle this, and while IoTaaS alternatives can, that path is prohibitively too expensive and slow.

IoT83’s Flex Platform was built from the ground up to resolve this conflict: to deliver a Platform and Application Creation engine that is scalable, secure, and flexible, that speeds new differentiated application creation and deployment, all while cutting the cost, risk, and time-to-market for our customers. In this article, I will outline exactly how IoT83 has overcome this market-needs conflict with our Flex Platform and what makes Flex ideal for so many enterprises.?

As important background, one important product development truth is fundamental to IoT83’s “Flex Approach”: ?The number of “new lines of code” implemented in any program is directly proportional to the cost, schedule, and risk of that program. This is especially true with complex and enterprise-grade programs, and is one of the key reasons so many IIoT programs have not been successful. IoT83 meets this issue head on with our Flex Platform. As I will show in this article, Flex gives OEMs and Enterprises the ability to build, deploy, and manage highly differentiated applications – but at the same time, dramatically cut the number of new lines of code needed to accomplish this Vs. any other platform alternative. In short, Flex is a game changer.?

A very high-level first look at how this works is illustrated in the following diagram:

Starting at the bottom of the diagram, the foundation or “bedrock” of the Flex Platform is the Flex Platform and Core Services. The Flex Platform itself is hardened infrastructure that handles all of the “Big-Data” infrastructure, scalability, and security that all the industrial grade applications will rely on. This layer assures that applications built on Flex inherit the proven scalability, reliability, and cyber-security of Flex.

Also fundamental to the “Platform Layer” are the Flex Core Services. These Core Services provide high performance and highly reliable middleware services needed for any IIoT application. They provide the “heavy lifting” of new applications via rich SDKs and APIs, and make applications far simpler to construct. Using the Core Services in the creation of any new application, developers need only instantiate validated SDKs in their applications to add powerful IIoT capabilities such as identity access management, device integrations, data transforms, database management, analytics, notifications, scheduling and much more. By using these Core Service SDKs and APIs the total lines of code for any application are cut very dramatically.

But the next layer of the Flex Platform takes this leverage even further. The next layer is the Flex Catalyst Code. This provides a complete Industrial IoT application, with an expansive feature set, that OEMs and Operators can use as the foundation for custom and highly targeted / differentiated applications. The Flex Catalyst provides multiple IIoT services or “design patterns” that almost all enterprise-grade IIoT applications need, from device inception in manufacturing, to fielded device management and service optimization, to integrating IIoT data and analytics with existing business systems.

It is also important to understand that in Flex, there is a clean layer of separation between the Application Layer and the Platform itself. The underlying Flex Platform is IoT83 intellectual property delivered as Licensed Code. But with this clean separation, all applications customers build on Flex entirely owned by Flex Platform customers.

With the Platform, Core Services, and the Catalyst Code already in place, new custom / differentiated application development is highly focused on creating value and real differentiation, not on underlying IoT technology.

Going to the next level of how this actually works, the diagram below illustrates the breadth of services provided at the Flex Platform, Core Services, and Catalyst Code layers:

Again, starting at the bottom is the Flex Platform Core with all of the “Big-Data” infrastructure needed to deliver proven fault tolerance, high availability, scalability, cyber-security, high performance, and more. This Platform layer is extensively validated, has been scaled to over 65M connected devices, and using best-in-class tools further validated for full cyber security. The Flex Platform is also cloud agnostic, meaning that it can be deployed on AWS, Azure, private clouds, or even on appliances. So, from a new application enablement perspective, the reliability and completeness of the Flex Platform Core establishes a rock-solid foundation.

Taking a deeper look at the Flex Core Services, these are 18 (and growing) essential building blocks needed in the creation of any enterprise-grade IIoT application. Delivered as highly secure middleware, they greatly simplify the creation of all applications built using Flex. These Core Services include asset connectors, device management, data transformation, rules engines, notifications, analytics, AI enablement, and much more. From the application creation perspective, these Core Services, combined with the Platform Core make up the Flex Platform foundation or bedrock. Proven for scalability, reliability, and performance, the Core Services provide are accessed via well documented SDKs and APIs allowing these services to perform the “heavy lifting” for the for any application created using the platform. And, because these Core Services are so heavily used throughout new applications, they have been highly optimized for performance and scalability. So, the quality of this layer has a direct impact on the scalability, reliability, performance, and cyber-security of any solution or application.

To understand the full value of the Flex Platform Layer, two key points are important:

? First, unlike IoTaaS alternatives, having a solid Platform foundation already constructed and intact for scale, reliability, and security from the start, the full focus is on application creation – the Platform is already solid. But with an IoTaaS approach, IIoT spending is often 80% on “Platform” and only 20% on “Application”. This is a big deal. What the Flex Platform Layer provides is analogous to all the services one might use in an IoT-as-a-Service implementation, but already fully formed into a hardened, scalable, secure, and well tested platform – with easy to use SDKs and APIs that to speed new application creation while minimizing new lines of code.

? The next point is this: Simply by invoking one of the supplied APIs in the above layers, developers are swinging a very large hammer in new functionality creation. When Flex SDKs are invoked in the application layer, powerful new capabilities – already proven for scale, reliability, and security - are added to the solution with minimal new lines of code.

Looking more deeply at the Flex Catalyst or “Application” layer, the diagram above provides additional details on the application acceleration the Catalyst provides. From device inception in manufacturing, to deployment, operations, analytics, integration with existing enterprise services, to end-of-life, the Flex Catalyst provides multiple essential IIoT functions. With multiple essential IIoT functions already implemented – from device and data-flow connectors, to data transformations, storage management, rules creation and management, analytics, AI/ML tools, reporting, automations, scheduling, identity access management, and much more – the Flex Catalyst hugely accelerates new application creation by providing a complete and validated IIoT application from the start.

And at the same time, the Flex Catalyst also provides our customers with an in-depth how-to guide of best practices in using the Flex Platform Core Services SDKs and APIs across all of the functions provided in the code. As emphasized before, to build what they really need for differentiation and their unique use-cases, customers need real and substantive differentiation to build strong competitive advantage. The Flex Catalyst streamlines this by providing extensive working functions as an overall solution, that can then be tuned or modified to build this uniqueness and competitive advantage.

So, using the working and proven Flex Catalyst Application, PoCs can be created in days, MVPs in weeks, and full-custom commercial applications in a matter of a few months:

Looking at the diagram above:

? ?? ?????????? ???? ?????????????? ?????? ???? ?????????????? ???? ?? ???????????? ???? ????????: With very small modifications to the Catalyst Application, an OEMs data flows can be connected to Flex. Now this data is now fully integrated into the existing features, functions, and flows of the Catalyst Application for a powerful PoC.

? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ?????????????? ???? ?? ???????????? ???? ??????????: To build a more differentiated MVP, targeted modifications can be implemented in the Catalyst Application, perhaps for custom analytics, specialized visualizations, or integration with existing OEM systems. For this MVP, more Catalyst features can be added or modified, new analytics or custom business logic can be added, and all delivered in a matter of weeks. Now, with a tailor-fit and fast time to market MVP, the applications can be validated with customers to validate and further explore what features or capabilities will command the most market advantage.

? ?? ???????????????????? ???????????????? ?????? ???? ?????????????????? ???? ?? ?????? ????????????: Once armed with a solid plan for differentiation and with specific use-cases identified, still more features from the Catalyst can be leveraged and modified as needed for strategic advantage. Custom analytics and business logic can be added to the Catalyst flow, or the entire flow can be re-arranged, all with minimal lines of new code, while leaving the fundamental reliability, scalability, and security of the Flex Platform intact. Leveraging the Flex Platform itself along with the Flex Catalyst Code, the cost, risk, and time to market are all dramatically cut, and the Commercial Release can be delivered in just a few months.

This overview should clearly show the power of using the Flex Platform, and why customers come to IoT83 when they hit a wall with Low-Code or IoTaaS alternatives.

? First, the Platform Core “just works”, and new application creation is dramatically accelerated by using the SDKs and libraries to access this Flex Platform power.

? The Flex Platform advantage is taken still further by using the Catalyst Application as a foundation and roadmap accelerator, integrating new capabilities as needed, and making modifications to this application as suitable to maximize commercial impact and advantage.

? And because of the clean separation between the Platform and Application Layers, all Intellectual Property created in the Application completely belongs to our customers.

In closing, I also want to touch on the benefits many of our customers enjoy by leveraging IoT83’s Development Services team. Certainly, the Flex Platform has been designed with a very high focus on ease of use and to enable intuitive use of its features and capabilities. But at the same time, many customers want to jump start their IIoT transformations by using our Design Services Team’s extensive IIoT and Flex Platform expertise. And at IoT83 we place a high premium on customer success – whether it is in the strategic planning, product planning, or execution stages of implementation, our experienced team is there to support you.

So please reach out to us to learn more about how IoT83 can benefit your long-term success. We look forward to giving you a first-hand tour – because seeing is believing!