Advantech has announced Edge Service Packages

     Advantech has released Edge service packages, including Azure IoT Edge and AWS IoT Greengrass. The growing demand for real-time insights and localized actions in industrial environments is driving the adoption of edge computing solutions. Edge-as-a-service includes the integration of hardware, edge software, and corresponding cloud services to enable efficient edge orchestration. Synergies between the edge and the cloud are critical to a successful digital transformation.

     The company's Edge service pack was created to cater to its hardware platform and third-party software applications, providing enhanced flexibility and user experience. These solutions provide device control, edge monitoring, and software management services that facilitate seamless digital expansion by accelerating deployment and integration.

     In response to the edge computing trend, the company introduced edge Service Packs, Azure IoT edge and AWS IoT Greengrass to improve IoT Edge deployment on edge platforms by adding value and streamlining processes. They leverage cloud intelligence to seamlessly integrate edge computing, charting a roadmap for scalable workloads in hybrid cloud and edge computing. In addition, the company offers a variety of hardware certified through Azure IoT Edge or AWS IoT Greengrass. Users can select preferred hardware and edge service packages based on their target cloud service or specification to develop customized solutions, enabling customers to develop IoT-enabled applications in an optimized manner.

     The Azure IoT Edge package helps to deploy Azure IoT Edge on-premises to break down data silos and consolidate operational data at scale in the Azure cloud. It includes basic Azure IoT Edge services, such as the IoT Hub Device Provisioning Service, which connects physical devices with their corresponding identities in Microsoft Azure IoT Hub. Another example of an Azure IoT Edge module is OPC UA Publisher. When applying Advantech's Edge Manager, this web application can configure and manage the OPC UA server to ensure seamless communication with the OPC UA Publisher Edge module. The tool simplifies the selection of data nodes and makes it easy to transfer them to the cloud without coding.

     AWS IoT Greengrass runs as an open source edge runtime and cloud service for building, deploying, and managing device software. It provides pre-built components so end users can easily extend edge device functionality without having to write code. AWS IoT Greengrass's components provide added functionality and fast connectivity to AWS services or third-party applications at the edge. This package can help end users deploy and configure resources such as Lambda functions, Docker images, or ML models for local inference. In addition, it allows users to launch Greengrass services on edge devices in a timely manner, manage them seamlessly via AWS IoT Greengrass, and efficiently transfer telemetry data to the AWS cloud.

     Nevertheless, the company has developed an open cloud-based industrial iot platform, EdgeSync 360, to revolutionize device and data management for a variety of industrial applications. The suite of software products includes Edgelink for edge connection management, DeviceOn for IPC management, and WebAccess for SCADA and HMI visualization. For cloud services, EdgeHub is a centralized platform that simplifies edge connectivity, device management, and data analytics, distributing intelligence among edge devices. It provides a seamless way to deploy and update not only software applications at scale, but also Docker containers, firmware, operating systems, and Linux applications in bulk, from the cloud to the edge.