How To Get The Benefit Of Industrial IoT Gateways While Managing The Risk

As more industrial enterprises take their first tentative steps toward Internet of Things (IoT) implementations, they quickly discover the need for a new class of system: the IoT gateway. As with any new technology introduced into industrial environments, one question arises: Will it introduce new risks? Put simply, an IoT gateway sits between systems at the edge and central control and management systems, often linked via the cloud. The gateway aggregates data from hundreds or thousands of sensors and other edge devices and systems, performing translations of protocols and device management models. Increasingly, IoT gateways are evolving from simply providing this translational function into “intelligent” systems that provide higher-level control functions at the edge, easing the burden on central management systems.