Cradlepoint and Microsoft Create Integrated Solution to Simplify and Accelerate Enterprise IoT Projects

Cradlepoint, the global leader in cloud-delivered LTE and 5G wireless
network edge solutions, announced today on the keynote stage at IoT
Evolution Expo, a platform integration with Microsoft Azure that will
make it faster and easier for enterprises to “Build Your Own IoT”
solutions (BYOIoT). The solution includes Cradlepoint’s new NetCloud
Edge Connector for Azure IoT Central to help simplify and accelerate the
process of building and deploying IoT applications and devices.

According to a recent study by Cisco,
74 percent of IoT initiatives fell short of achieving success with 54
percent citing the lack of collaboration between IT and other business
units and 48 percent attributing it to a lack of IoT expertise. The new
platform integration between Microsoft and Cradlepoint helps provide
Operational Technology (OT) teams the freedom and ability to build and
deploy IoT solutions that improve business competitiveness and
efficiency, while giving IT teams the tools they need to ensure secure,
reliable and compliant device connectivity at the wide-area-network
(WAN) edge.

“The mission of Azure IoT Central is to improve the success rate and
time-to-value of enterprise IoT projects by reducing development
complexity and IT integration challenges,” said Tony Shakib, general
manager of Azure IoT. “With Cradlepoint, we are extending this mission
by addressing one of the key issues that threatens successful IoT
outcomes—enabling IT to deliver secure and reliable IoT device
connectivity across the WAN.”

Azure IoT Central is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that lets
customers build and deploy production-grade IoT applications in hours
without cloud computing experience or specialized skills. Cradlepoint
will join the Azure IoT Central partner program allowing the two
companies to collaborate on marketing the solution to enterprise and
public sector customers.

Cradlepoint will offer a pre-built integration for its NetCloud service,
called NetCloud Edge Connector for Azure IoT Central, that allows
organizations to connect IoT devices to applications built on the
Microsoft Azure
IoT Central platform with complete visibility, security and control.
For example, a vendor that uses kiosks in airports, campuses, or
storefronts can rapidly develop and deploy a new IoT solution to monitor
the video terminal, the door alarm, the temperature and the WAN
connectivity of the application running in the kiosk. Previously,
developing such a solution would require complex application programming
and introduce significant network connectivity and management challenges.

“Our State
of IoT 2018 highlights the nature of enterprise IoT with 69 percent
of customers having either deployed or planning to deploy IoT; with 53
percent developing their own solutions, which includes leveraging their
own WAN,” said George Mulhern, chairman and chief executive officer at
Cradlepoint. “The prevailing go-it-alone approach is the catalyst behind
our Microsoft partnership and integration with Azure IoT Central. We are
committed to helping IT teams deliver secure and reliable connectivity
and accelerate IoT time-to-value for their business constituencies while
providing a pathway to 5G in the future.”

The new IoT solution will be very beneficial for both Microsoft and
Cradlepoint partners. It provides a blank canvas for rapidly developing,
deploying and managing custom IoT applications for specific customers,
use cases and industries without them having to invest in cloud
infrastructure or specialized resources.

“The Microsoft and Cradlepoint integration of the NetCloud and Azure IoT
Central platforms is a huge win for companies seeking to build their own
IoT solutions,” said James Brehm, founder and chief technology
evangelist at James Brehm & Associates. “The new partnership promises to
help bridge the OT and IT collaboration gap, improve IoT project
outcomes and finally put the IT back into IoT.”

The Cradlepoint NetCloud Edge Connector for Azure IoT Central
provides a simple-to-setup, reliable, and secure edge-to-cloud
connection for sending IoT data directly into Azure IoT Central and runs
on select Cradlepoint wireless router solutions for branch, mobile, and
IoT networking. It includes an update to the NetCloud Operating System
(NCOS) as well as simplified workflow within NetCloud Manager. The
NetCloud Edge Connector for Azure IoT Central is scheduled for limited
availability in April 2019 for active subscribers of the Cradlepoint
NetCloud service

Cradlepoint is a Diamond Sponsor of the IoT Evolution Expo 2019 and is
exhibiting at Booth 1604. The joint keynote presentation, “How
Enterprise-Grade IoT Can Improve Deployment Success Rates,” opens
day two of the event at 10 am ET in Grand Ballroom A, and will be
presented by George Mulhern, CEO of Cradlepoint and Tom Davis, head of
Azure IoT Ecosystem & Strategic Partnerships at Microsoft. To find out
more visit https://www.iotevolutionexpo.com/east/

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for
the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is
to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve
more.

About Cradlepoint

Cradlepoint is the global leader in cloud-delivered wireless edge
solutions for branch, mobile, and IoT networks. The Cradlepoint Elastic
Edge™ vision—powered by NetCloud services—provides a blueprint for
agile, pervasive and software-driven wireless WANs that leverage 4G and
5G services to connect people, places and things everywhere with
resiliency, security, and control. More than 20,000 enterprise and
government organizations around the world, including 75 percent of the
world’s top retailers, 50 percent of the Fortune 100, and first
responders in 10 of the largest U.S. cities, rely on Cradlepoint to keep
critical branches, points of commerce, field forces, vehicles, and IoT
devices always connected and protected. Major service providers use
Cradlepoint wireless solutions as the foundation for innovative managed
network services. Founded in 2006, Cradlepoint is a privately held
company headquartered in Boise, Idaho, with a development center in
Silicon Valley and international offices in the UK and Australia.

Learn more at cradlepoint.com or
follow us on Twitter @cradlepoint.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190130005120/en/