Top 5 Internet of Things (IoT) cloud platforms

Internet of things (IoT) is the latest buzzword and there are reasons for it. Whether is it machine to machine communication, automation or control, IoT is saving both time and money for individuals and businesses. Truly, IoT is continuing to bring a radical change in our daily life. However, this could never be possible without the computing power of the cloud.

Today, there are billions of IoT devices connected with each other through the internet. As these devices generate a lot of data, we need something to send, store and process those data. Setting and maintaining an in-house data system is not practical anymore as building, maintaining, upgrading and securing the system will cost a fortune. Also, we have to take into account the overhead of wiring and complex coding of the hardware and software. This is where the IoT Cloud comes in.

By leveraging the power of the cloud, countless people are saving both time and large upfront hardware investment. From transferring, storing and accessing a large amount of data to building scalable business infrastructure, the benefits of cloud are endless. Cloud highlights the importance of scalability, connectivity, and cost.

But, selecting an IoT cloud platform is not an easy task. There are hundreds of IoT cloud service providers who are trying to position themselves as the leaders in the IoT revolution. But the truth is that every platform has its own advantages and disadvantages. Here, we would delve into the top and most effective IoT cloud platforms to help you quickly narrow down your choices based on your requirements.

1. Amazon Web Services IoT core platform

When it comes to consumer cloud, Amazon web services dominates the list. With the most flexible and scalable plans, Amazon IoT core is one of the pioneers in IoT cloud market with a 35% market share. This product by the e-commerce giant makes it much easier for the developers to collect data from sensors and other IoT devices and transmit it using various protocols like HTTP, MQTT, and WebSockets. What’s more is that you can easily integrate it with IaaS which includes Amazon S3, lambda, kinesis, and Amazon Machine learning. 

Pros

• Excellent integration with IaaS offering
• Device management with ultra-secure gateways
• Flexible and pay-as-you-go feature
• Solid data encryption and decryption
• No minimum fee

Cons

•  Complex for beginners
• Three outages in the last 2 years

2. ThingWorx IoT platform

Are you a developer working on Augmented Reality (AR) or are you looking for easiest device connectivity for industrial applications? Well, ThingWorx IoT will surely impress you. ThingWorx is a leading Industrial IoT (IIoT) platform which facilitates faster, easier and a better way of building, deploying and extending industrial apps and projects. In fact, it is the most intuitive platforms for developers and customers. The pre-built widgets and easy to manage devices remove all the complexity of your project and let you build a powerful app faster. Also, it incorporates Coldlight (IoT analytics) and Vuforia AR studio. 

Pros

• Most user-friendly platform for customers
• Easy connectivity with all sensors, IoT devices, and RFIDs.
• Simple device management
• Integrated Machine learning and Augmented Reality studio

Cons

• Extreme care and forethought is required for complex applications
• Complicated with a custom program written in C#

3. Microsoft Azure IoT suite

Microsoft is striving to become a one-stop IoT solution provider. They have incorporated Machine learning, advanced IoT services, cloud storage and even upgraded their operating system. The best thing about Microsoft is the easy integration and compatibility with different applications like SAP, Salesforce, Oracle DB, Microsoft Dynamics and a lot more. Also, it supports HTTP, MQTT and Advanced message queuing protocol (AMQP). Like Amazon, Google and IBM, Microsoft Azure offers some exceptional services on their platform. The pricing is structured in four tiers and depends on the amounts of data generated per day. It is absolutely free for less than 8,000 messages per day.

Pros

• Pre-configured solutions for higher profitability and productivity
• Rich integration with Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, etc.
• Scalable and high availability
• Cool platform and third-party services

Cons

• Requires expert management
• Need solid Platform expertise

4.  IBM Watson IoT platform

IBM Bluemix is one of those cloud computing solutions that provide us with both PaaS and IaaS. This means that you can deploy a whole new platform or get the IoT infrastructure over the internet. From virtualization to computing power and from networking to storage, you have access to everything. Backed by Bluemix, IBM Watson makes sample apps and IoT service interfaces easily accessible to beginners. Process and send real-time data through their secure untapped communication. Student? They also offer 100 MB of free data every month.

Pros

• Easy implementation of data
• Affordable plans
• A wealth of powerful APIs
• Raspberry pie, machine learning, and cognitive skill support
• Customer support improved  

Cons

• Stability of applications struggle at times
• High switching cost

5. Google Cloud platform

Google Cloud is the best platform if scaling your business and pricing is most important to you. This platform by the biggest Tech-giant focuses on making implementation, integration, and processing easier and faster. Need instant information every time you want? Try out Google cloud for your business. With Google grade security and Google’s private global fiber network, you can send data anywhere instantly and securely. As pricing is done on a per-minute basis, it is cheaper than AWS. But, Google cloud doesn’t have the same extensive tools and documentation like AWS or IBM.

Pros

• Comes with Google Web-scale processing, machine intelligence, and analytics
• Ultra-low latency Google’s private global fiber network
• Fastest input/output
• Affordable and scalable

Cons

• Limited programming language choices for developers
• Confusing web-interface and pricing structure
• source: https://iotnews.today/top-10-internet-of-things-iot-cloud-platforms/