Losant Edge Compute and Azure IoT Edge provide complementary services that work together to deliver a comprehensive edge computing software technology stack. Losant provides the tools to implement and remotely deploy edge intelligence through our drag-and-drop Edge Workflows and Azure provides the tools to remotely deploy and manage the Edge Agent's underlying Docker container.
To make it as easy as possible to use these services together, Losant Edge Compute is now available in the Azure Marketplace as an IoT Edge Module. Please read our Installation Using Azure IoT Edge documentation page for step-by-step instructions.
One of the primary use cases for Losant Edge Compute is for remotely monitoring fielded industrial equipment. This monitoring is usually provided by the OEM as an IoT service to accompany the equipment they sell to customers. Monitoring fielded equipment, potentially in the hands of thousands of different customers, presents unique edge computing challenges that Losant and Azure come together to solve.
In many cases the OEM will retrofit their equipment with an inexpensive gateway. This gateway is connecting to the equipment's existing controller for the source of telemetry and health data. The gateway then securely transmits that data to Losant's Enterprise IoT Platform over a cellular, WiFi, or Ethernet connection. The owner of that equipment (i.e. the OEM's customer) can then view data, alerts, and service information for the equipment they own.
To enable this service, there are two fundamental edge computing requirements. The first, which is provided by Losant, is an Edge Workflow that reads data from the equipment's controller and performs any required local processing. The second, which is provided by Azure, is managing the container running the underlying Losant Edge Agent. It's important that both your edge intelligence (Losant Edge Workflows) and edge runtime (Losant Edge Agent) can be remotely updated at any time. These updates could include security fixes, bug fixes, or new functionality for your customers.
Remote updating is particularly important for customer-owned fielded equipment. Unlike internally-facing industrial IoT solutions, it's impossible for a technician to physically access each piece of equipment. The equipment is owned by your customers and deployed all over the world.
By using Losant and Azure, OEMs have access to a comprehensive edge computing solution with the ability to remotely deploy both edge intelligence and the edge runtime. Using these platforms greatly reduces time to market while ensuring the resulting IoT service is both secure and scalable.
If you'd like to receive a live demo of Losant and Azure working together, please contact us and we'll be in touch.