{"id":37668,"date":"2020-10-15T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/iot-roundup-carriers-and-connectivity-fueling-microsofts-iot-expansion-iot-networks-getting-smarter-and-security-corner\/"},"modified":"2020-10-15T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-10-15T05:00:00","slug":"iot-roundup-carriers-and-connectivity-fueling-microsofts-iot-expansion-iot-networks-getting-smarter-and-security-corner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.threatshub.org\/blog\/iot-roundup-carriers-and-connectivity-fueling-microsofts-iot-expansion-iot-networks-getting-smarter-and-security-corner\/","title":{"rendered":"IoT Roundup: Carriers and connectivity fueling Microsoft’s IoT expansion, IoT networks getting smarter, and security corner"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It’s easy to fall into the habit of thinking about IoT as something that a business has to manage largely on its own \u2013 embedding sensors, building a network and connecting a back end all at once. Some kinds of IoT implementation require a lot of in-house work, to be sure; but, increasingly, there are options for handing off some or all of the work to a third party.<\/p>\n

The major mobile data carriers in the US are eager to be that third party. The news last month that AT&T is teaming up with Microsoft to provide a cellular modem specifically for Azure IoT use isn’t earthshaking on its own, but it’s one example of the type of partnership that carriers seem intent on creating with players at various levels of the IoT ecosystem.<\/p>\n

The guardian device, as AT&T refers to it, is designed to take the headache out of architecting a network for a new IoT deployment. Instead of connecting to a business’s own network or back to a data center via the public internet, users can install these cellular modems on any piece of equipment that needs connectivity, and instantly get a secured connection to Azure via AT&T’s network.<\/p>\n

It’s a small part of a larger AT&T\/Microsoft partnership, and the major IoT platform providers are also eager to team up. Microsoft has integration deals with all the major carriers, but has especially close ties with AT&T, with whom the company announced a major partnership last summer.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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It’s easy to fall into the habit of thinking about IoT as something that a business has to manage largely on its own \u2013 embedding sensors, building a network and connecting a back end all at once. Some kinds of IoT implementation require a lot of in-house work, to be sure; but, increasingly, there are options for handing off some or all of the work to a third party.<\/p>\n

The major mobile data carriers in the US are eager to be that third party. The news last month that AT&T is teaming up with Microsoft to provide a cellular modem specifically for Azure IoT use isn’t earthshaking on its own, but it’s one example of the type of partnership that carriers seem intent on creating with players at various levels of the IoT ecosystem.<\/p>\n

The guardian device, as AT&T refers to it, is designed to take the headache out of architecting a network for a new IoT deployment. Instead of connecting to a business’s own network or back to a data center via the public internet, users can install these cellular modems on any piece of equipment that needs connectivity, and instantly get a secured connection to Azure via AT&T’s network.<\/p>\n