IBM Gives Bluemix PaaS Users Cloud IoT Capabilities

Continuing to grow the amount of things Bluemix can do, IBM has integrated Internet of Things functionality into its Platform-as-a-Service. The IBM Internet of Things Foundation is a cloud for IoT -- a single service that enables someone to connect a device to the Internet, have it generate data, store that data and present it through an application the user has built on the Bluemix platform.

This is the latest in the growing amount of features users can access through the PaaS. Just last week, IBM made APIs for its "cognitive computing" system called Watson available on Bluemix. Providing a variety of advanced services on a PaaS makes it easier for developers to build applications with advanced functionality.

Equipment and asset manufacturers can use IoT to provide remote service and monitoring to residential and commercial customers. It has several potential applications across many industries. One example IBM gave was an oil-and-gas company that was remotely monitoring and providing predictive maintenance to critical equipment.

“Think of the IoT Foundation as an extremely fast on-ramp to the cloud for the millions of intelligent IoT devices that are now being shipped, and the billions already Internet connected," said John Thompson, vice president, Internet of Things, IBM.

IBM has recruited a group of companies that signed on as initial partners to the cloud IoT initiative -- a group it expects will grow. These initial partners are ARM Holdings, B&B Electronics, Elecsys, Intel, Multi-Tech Systems and Texas Instruments.