IoT edge platforms help facilitate localized computer processing on IoT devices. These devices constantly analyze streams of data including information about networks, actions, and anything else the device is connected to or interacting with. IoT edge platforms provide containerized modules to deploy on IoT devices, a runtime to execute actions locally, and a cloud-based interface for monitoring and management.
Companies use these technologies to reduce bandwidth usage for IoT devices, respond quicker to malfunction, and reduce overall network traffic. Shifting IoT analytics to the edge can also increase security by reducing the amount of data being transferred over networks.
There is some overlap between IoT edge platforms and IoT analytics software, but most IoT analytics solutions do not shift workloads to the edge so processing can be completed locally on the device. Many non-edge IoT analytics solutions simply gather large amounts of data and centralize the information and analytics processes.
To qualify for inclusion in the IoT Edge Platforms category, a product must:
Provide edge modules to deploy on IoT devices
Provide a containerized runtime to manage devices and execute actions
Provide a cloud-based monitoring console for real-time edge analytics