Coreflux as an alternative to Azure IoT Central
In the evolving IIoT landscape, businesses seek robust platforms that align with their growth and innovation goals. Throughout their lifecycles, organizations and users will inevitably witness the rise and fall of different platforms, making it highly important for businesses of varied sizes and across different industries to focus on incumbent players that steadily invest in continuous Research & Development of solutions. The key lies in open solutions that don't simply rely on the status quo (unlike the big players that move only for profit margins), but strive to look toward the future and seek to advance the state of Industry 4.0 and IIoT in general.
For a long time, Azure IoT Central has been a large player, offering a managed service that streamlined the deployment and management of IoT solutions. Connectivity options, integrated analytics, and seamless Azure service integration paved the way for IoT applications across industries. Yet, for its own reasons, Microsoft opted to announce on 15/02/2024 they would discontinue it… only to a few days later, after a flood of protests, announce it was a miscommunication and a different solution would be provided. For industries that require stability, this caused a small panic across I4.0 forums.
So, what now, for users who require a trustworthy alternative that won't shift under their feet?
Coreflux seeks to emerge as a robust alternative solution, offering distinct possibilities that align with diverse IIoT demands, as well as a healthy ecosystem for the development and global integration of solutions.
Here we look at a few comparisons and indicators, an overview of what users migrating from Azure IoT Central can find in the Coreflux ecosystem:
| Feature | Coreflux | Azure IoT Central | CF as viable alternative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connectivity | Focus on MQTT for lightweight messaging, real-time data management. | Multiple connectivity options, broad compatibility. | Yes, specializes in interoperability through MQTT. |
| Connectivity and Protocol Support | Primarily uses MQTT for device communication, emphasizing efficient and real-time data exchange and device control, providing communication to and from multiple industrial (IT/OT) protocols. | Caters to a range of devices and scenarios in the IoT landscape. | Yes. |
| Device Management | Provides seamless integration and management of a wide variety of devices, ensuring scalability from a few devices to thousands, with a focus on security through encrypted communications and robust authentication mechanisms. | Features device management capabilities, including provisioning, configuration, and updates, with an emphasis on ease of connection and broad compatibility across devices. | Yes, built to handle multiple IT/OT network complexities. |
| Data Management and Transformation | Utilizes its own Flux Language for designing event-driven workflows, optionally empowered by natural language no-code solutions, enabling advanced data processing, orchestration, and real-time analytics. Offers MQTT commands for efficient data handling, deployment and configuration of IIoT devices at scale. | Offers data exploration and management tools, including time series insights, data visualization, and analytics capabilities, to derive insights from device data. | Yes, strives for advancement of automation and AI to democratize IIoT. |
| Security | Prioritizes data and device security with SSL/TLS for encrypted communication and support for username/password authentication, with recommendations for using certificate-based authentication for enhanced security. Emphasizes encrypted communication and robust authentication mechanisms. | Provides security features including device authentication, secure communications, and the ability to implement custom security models to protect IoT solutions. | Yes, focus on industrial-grade applications. |
| Integration and Extensibility | Supports integration with various programming languages such as C#, Python, Go, and Rust, allowing for flexible and customizable IIoT solutions. Supports the ability to bridge with other MQTT brokers for interoperable IIoT architectures. | Supports integration with other Azure services and external applications through APIs, connectors, and event hubs, enabling complex IoT solutions and workflows. | Yes, built with integration of multiple technologies in mind. |
| Scalability and Reliability | Designed to scale seamlessly according to needs and handle a wide range of devices efficiently, managing from single to tens of thousands of devices. The platform's architecture and MQTT broker are built to handle large volumes of concurrent connections efficiently. | Emphasizes high availability, disaster recovery, and elastic scaling to ensure operation across global IoT deployments, with the infrastructure to support large-scale IoT applications. | Yes. |
| Platform Type | IIoT platform emphasizing MQTT for device communication and real-time data processing. | IoT application platform as a service (aPaaS) focusing on reducing the development, management, and maintenance burden of IoT solutions. | Yes. |
| UI Customization and User Roles | Data hub configurable with specific permissions from admin to user, with topic-level access control, both on on-premise brokers and hosted cloud broker, offering modular design and flexibility for industry-specific solutions. | Allows customization of the application UI for operators, including dashboards, analytics, and device template layout, and defines roles for granular permissions. | Yes. |
| Pricing | Scalable specific protocol solutions with fixed prices, without vendor lock-in, coupled with a subscription-based hosted cloud MQTT broker. | Offers multiple pricing plans based on device message allocation, with the first two devices free under each plan. Pricing tiers accommodate devices with varying message sending frequencies. | Yes, emphasizes absence of vendor lock-in. |
Overview
As users transition from Azure IoT Central, Coreflux's platform offers a parallel ecosystem. As a natively industrial solution, it upholds high standards of security and compliance, essential not only for startups and nonprofits but globally distributed companies as well. Its scalability and pricing flexibility make it accessible to a diverse user base, while its quickstart capabilities ensure ease of use, promoting rapid deployment.
Coreflux, with its agile and forward-thinking approach, provides MQTT-based device management and connectivity, essential for real-time data exchange and high service availability. Its use cases emphasize adaptability, extending support to varied industries like energy management, manufacturing, healthcare, and agriculture with AI-driven analytics, fostering informed decision-making across multiple verticals.
The integration and extensibility of Coreflux allow seamless enhancement of business applications, contributing to sustainability and workplace safety. In summary, Coreflux stands as a comprehensive alternative, ready to accommodate the needs of Azure IoT Central's clientele with a secure, scalable, and user-friendly environment for diverse IoT applications.
For a deeper dive into transitioning to Coreflux, reach out to us or even schedule a quick call if needed. We are here for you.
