IOTech launches Edge Builder to manage edge systems at scale

An open and flexible end-to-end solution, Edge Builder addresses the edge management challenge within Industrial IoT systems

IOTech, the edge software company, today announced the launch and availability of Edge Builder, its end-to-end management solution for edge systems. Edge Builder provides a comprehensive, flexible and open solution that simplifies and automates the management of edge systems at scale.

To ensure that Edge Builder addresses the market opportunity, IOTech has been working with a number of key partners and potential customers during the development phase of the product. 

“Intel has been supporting IOTech throughout the development of Edge Builder,” said Bryan Rodriguez, IoTG Technical Lead, Platform Architect at Intel. “Finally, a scalable management solution that is addressing both device and orchestration management for far edge systems.”

“Having a flexible and scalable edge management solution is critical to supporting our Smart Operating Platform (Platform), which provides operational and crowd intelligence as a venue management solution,” said Joe Costanzo, Chief Technology Officer, PMY. “Edge Builder provides the dynamic edge management capabilities we need to deploy our Platform to customers' systems quickly and at scale. It also gives us the ability to maintain and extend a deployment easily, regardless of whether the system is permanent or only in use for a short period of time.”

As the number of industrial IoT devices and the data that comes from them grows at a rapid rate, the problem of managing these edge infrastructures becomes critical. Traditional Cloud or IT-based management solutions can struggle with factors such as edge scale, intermittent connectivity, device/sensor connectivity, legacy platforms and resource constraints at the edge.

The problem is multi-dimensional in scope and includes both the provisioning and management of the edge nodes and also the application workloads deployed on the nodes. Other key issues include dealing with aged and heterogeneous infrastructure (legacy equipment, brownfield nodes and devices) and that the OT lifecycle is often measured in decades, not years. 

Designed to meet the specific needs of edge systems, Edge Builder provides light touch provisioning and complete lifecycle management for both edge nodes and their applications. Currently, it supports the deployment and management of containerized applications at the edge and in the future will also support the deployment of native binary applications.

Edge systems are managed from a centralized Edge Builder controller that can be hosted either on-premise or in the cloud. Platform independence for both the managed nodes and the cloud environment on which the controller is deployed ensures flexibility and choice for Edge Builder users.

“There are a number of use cases for Edge Builder and we’ve already seen interest from industrial companies who want the ability to remotely monitor, update or even control engineering assets in the field from both a support and a "as a service" perspective,” said Keith Steele, CEO of IOTech. “We’re also talking to large retailers looking to consolidate the applications they use in each store on to centralized infrastructure, where both the applications and the infrastructure are managed by Edge Builder.  For both use cases this has a massive workforce saving.”

For more information on Edge Builder, visit IOTech’s website at Edge Builder or view the  recent on-demand webcast on the subject of Edge Management at Scale -Solving the Big Problem in the IoT Room. To arrange an Edge Builder evaluation, contact IOTech.