Microsoft makes big play for Internet of Things with IoT versions of Azure and Windows 10

At Microsoft’s business-focused Convergence conference today in Atlanta, Georgia, the computing giant confirmed it’s making a big play into the so-called Internet of Things (IoT) realm, with a new Microsoft Azure IoT Suite and IoT-focused version of its Windows 10 operating system.Azure is Microsoft’s cloud-computing platform infrastructure that helps companies build and manage apps and services from the cloud. With the Azure IoT Suite — which will be introduced in preview mode later this year — Microsoft is looking to help companies integrate and manage all their connected offerings. The new platform will give businesses access to tools such as asset management, remote monitoring, and predictive maintenance. Feeding into this is Azure Stream Analytics, which serves up real-time data from “things” and will be made available “next month” as a standalone service, or bundled with Azure IoT.