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diff --git a/vision.md b/vision.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..4634f6e9 --- /dev/null +++ b/vision.md @@ -0,0 +1,219 @@ +# What is our vision? + +The aim of creating thin-edge.io is to provide a IoT edge device framework for +IoT project teams which makes it easy to enable resource constrained devices for +IoT. Unlike other solutions, we are not just another single-purpose agent but a +flexible platform with re-usable components without any vendor lock-in, focused +on adressing the needs of both IT and OT users. + +## Our motivation + +We believe that IoT (edge/device management, middleware, data analytics) are the +driving forces of the fourth industrial revolution: companies are forced to +leverage IoT solutions to stay competitive. In the past a large amount of +companies have suffered from failed IoT projects and initiatives, where a lot of +time and money was spent on device enablement: connectivity, security, device +management, etc... + +Thats why we are creating thin-edge.io. It provides an easy and flexible way for +IoT project teams and device manufactures to make their devices IoT-ready +without having to re-invent the wheel with costly and time-consuming, +potentially embedded, development projects. + +## Our target segments + +**B2B (IoT) Service providers:** IoT services providers are companies that are +building and offering products and services based on IoT technology. For them it +is crucial to deliver business outcomes and return on investment fast, as they +are dealing with a lot of end-customers who themselves in the past often failed +"homegrown" IoT initiatives. There is no willingness from the end customer to +spend a large amount of money and time on device connectivity. Therefore +thin-edge.io for them is a critical foundation to solve the connectivity +challenge and to focus on the business applications rather then connectivity and +device management aspects, which are in a lot of cases considered "hygiene +factors". + +**(Smart) Equipment makers/Hardware manufacturers/OEMs:** Equipment +Manufacturers are moving away from focusing primarily on selling their equipment +towards selling their equipment as a service (EaaS). An IIoT platform allowing +to connect and manage assets as well as to use the visualize, analyze, and +integrate equipment data is often the foundation to enable service-based +business models and services. Here thin-edge.io is used as a foundation to bring +"intelligence" around the equipment. Combined with any IoT platform, single +purpose gateways or devices which sit on the equipment can be transformed into +edge deployment options for services and applications that support the overall +EaaS business model by leveraging thin-egdge.io framework. + +**Smart equipment operators:** Rather than dealing with single equipment, smart +operators are looking to enhance or optimize whole manufacturing processes with +the help of IIoT. Operating complex manufacturing systems requires not only to +handle various industry protocols and assets but also requires to connect and +manage a heterogeneous set of industrial devices and hardware such as PLCs, +protocol converters or industrial gateways. Here thin-edge.io helps to unify the +complex device landscape by offering lightweight software modules which can run +on resource constrained, brownfield hardware. + +## Our target users/personas + +Within the different target segments, we are addressing the following personas +with thin-edge.io: + +**(IoT) Solution Developer/ Solution Architect**: Background consisting of +Python, Java, JS, Angular, Kubernetes, Cloud Platforms +- Responsible for : + - Implementing and maintaining the end-to-end IoT solution + - Often juggling multiple initiatives covering a broad range of technology + stacks in addition to implement and maintaining solutions. +- Challenges and needs regarding device enablement: + - Lack of expertise and knowledge in embedded space + - Dealing with fragmented hardware / linux variants + - Lack of time to focus on device enablement as building IoT applications on + cloud side is main responsibility + - No interest/time to dive into "hygiene factors" as device management and + security + - Expect ready to use or configuration based solution, with pre-defined + design principles and framework, offering easy extensibility with known + tools/languages + +**Device developer / Embedded engineer**: background consisting of Linux, C/C++, +C#, embedded systems (IT focused) + +- Responsible for + - device logic including firmware and software + - primarily only tasked to connect one or many devices/types to overall IoT + solution +- Challenges and needs reagarding device enablement: + - enable new services and connectivity on the device while keeping stability + and robustness (while having limited computing resources) + - dealing with certificates, queuing and persisting messages to handle + unstable connections + - allowing the device to be managed centrally, to keep it secure and + up-to-date (while important to him not always #1 prio to overall + initiative/project) + +- Special case : embedded dev with OT focus + - familiar with PLCs, SCADA systems, + - dealing with emerging need for connectivtiy and IIoT + - key concern is security, robusteness and resource efficiency which is + usually overruling any "typical" IT solution on the device and implies + some kind of custom logic. (e.g. rather closed OS, no dependencies can be + installed, very strict certification and QA process , no CI/CD possible, + long prodcut lifecycle 10-20 years) + +**Summary:** The persona types adressed by thin-edge.io often have conflicting +requirements and views, this itself is addressed by the project technology +vision and design principles, allowing thin-edge.io acting as a bridge between +the OT and IT world. + +## Persona needs and solutions + +**Key problems for users:** Until now, when developing device software, IoT +project teams and device builders were spending a lot of time solving generic +challenges such as connecting to a cloud or IoT, dealing with certificates, +queuing and persisting messages to handle unstable connections or allowing the +device to be managed centrally, to keep it secure and up-to-date. + +To overcome these challenges today, customers can either implement all those +components themselves, which typical results in complex embedded as well as +individual, device-specific code which needs to be maintained over the complete +device lifecycle. + +Implementing these functionalities oneself has not only a very high complexity +but also an opportunity cost, as those resources could have been used for more +specific business needs. On top of that, companies wish to be more and more +flexible so as to stay relevant in an ever-changing digital landscape. + +Of course, any generic solution would have to walk the very tight path of +keeping a low resource footprint, strong security and robustness. + +The combination of those challenges often leads a series of custom developed +embedded software that is expensive to maintain and extend. Also, most of the +development used to be specific to one cloud or IoT platform. At the same time +for more and more use-cases moving logic and analytics to the embedded edge +device becomes a must for reasons such latency, security or cost. However, +moving, and orchestrating workloads on the Edge used to be very challenging as +it also requires a lot of custom logic to be developed on the device, to be able +to integrate and support various device management platforms. + +**Example applications scenarios:** Edge/embedded devices are critical +components of any connected asset/smart equipment or operator use case. Within +the different use-cases and application scenarios, the edge can take over +different roles to address different IoT challenges: + +- Edge devices as a machine gateway: + - A typical problem for the target personas is the integration of various + asset specific OT interfaces to establish connection to fieldbus or + industry protocols. +- Supporting IoT and other Northbound connectivity + - Vendor agnostic connectivtiy of the data plane and control plane, + analytics and service/app orchestration from various IoT platforms is + required for all future IoT use-cases, as hyperscaler platforms and + end-customer vendor preferences might vary. +- Edge devices as deployment option for IoT services and applications + - There is an increasing need for device specific applications close to the + device e.g. device configuration, control logic, local monitoring, here a + flexible software management framework is needed which is independent from + the preferred software artifact type due to different hardware, OS + variants and package managers. +- There is an emerging need for Edge analytics such as data filtering, + pre-aggregation, ML model execution. +- Edge devices as configuration/management interface for asset - local/remote UI + for asset configuration/management including software and firmware management + of underlying systems to keep them secure and up-to date + +## thin-edge.io as a game changer + +To address the problems above, we create thin-edge.io as a framework for +lightweight IoT gateways, PLC’s, routers and other embedded devices which +require integration and interoperability with IoT platforms. + +The framework includes modules for cloud connectivity, data mapping, device +management, intra-edge communication, and certificate management, all aspects +and challenges our target personas need to address. + +In combination with IoT platforms, thin-edge.io is a foundation for enabling +devices with the following capabilities: + +- support for effortless and secure edge device lifecycle management for single + and device fleets +- support for low-touch provisioning of thin edge devices +- support for local and remote configuration +- support for local and remote maintenance including remote access + (monitoring/troubleshooting), +- decommissioning of thin devices (e.g. for security compromised or end of life + devices). Based on the challenge to capture both, the OT and IT persona needs, + thin-edge.io is focused on following design principles: + +- providing ready-to-use components available on wide-range of hardware and + embedded linux variants (thin edge layer) +- allowing control and orchestration from IoT (device management) platforms +- effortless and secure edge software management for different software artifact + types +- support effortless and secure edge analytics execution/management for + different analytics artifact types and runtimes + +**Why are we uniquely positioned to be competitive?** + +thin-edge.io offers a unique approach to unify the needs of both the IT and OT +world by offering a platform design focused on efficiency robustness and +security while offering the highest level of extensibility and wide range of +hardware. + +- Compared to other frameworks we are not restricting users towards one specific + software artifact type, package manager, programming language or message + payload to be used on the device +- We combine robust and lightweight components with extensibility (plug-in + mechanisms, mapper concept for cloud/platform support) +- We offer out-of-the-box modules to be used in combination with device + management platforms +- We offer hardware and infrastructure agnostic deployment of all edge + capabilities + +## Additional Questions + +What business goals do we try to achieve ? +- This is an open source project licenced under Apache 2.0, it is focused on + enterprise and company (B2B) use, hence why we encourage further partners to + join our mission and community to create an industry standard for IoT device + enablement and vendor agnostic connectivity and device management. + |