The Linux Foundation and Microsoft Offer IoT Platforms

IoT is gaining some serious traction, both in consumer and industrial space. On the open source side of the spectrum, the Linux Foundation has announced EdgeX Foundry project to bring IoT vendors to collaborate on a common open framework.

The Foundry is so far the biggest industry collaboration, with more than 50 members. “The initiative is aligned around a common goal: the simplification and standardization of Industrial IoT edge computing, while still allowing the ecosystem to add significant value,” said the foundry in a press release.

On the proprietary side, Microsoft has announced Microsoft IoT Central, a new software-as-a-service (SaaS) that’s built on top of Azure cloud to make it easier for customers to build IoT solutions.

“Microsoft IoT Central will be available along with our existing platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solution, Azure IoT Suite, which enables deep customization and full control. This new IoT SaaS offering has the potential to dramatically increase the speed at which manufacturers can innovate and bring new products to market, as well as lower the barriers to creating IoT solutions that generate new revenue opportunities and better experiences for customers,” Microsoft wrote in a blog post.

Despite being a top tier Linux Foundation member, Microsoft is missing from the list of companies supporting the EdgeX Foundry project. The announcements came at the same time, so it will be interesting to see whether Microsoft will join forces with the Foundry on the IoT front end.