Development of a Valuation Method for IoT-Platforms

Abstract

A production facility enables the collecting of many different data with existing machinery. One reason for this are modern machines, which are usually equipped with cyber-physical-systems (CPS). CPS are the basis of Industry 4.0 and enable machines to collect and transfer data by using sensors and a communication interface. The IoT-platform can visualize and analyse the data collected. This enables production to be optimized by detecting and minimizing weak points. Due to the topicality of this topic, there is a large variety of platform providers on the market. However, the IoT-platforms of the different providers have different strengths and weaknesses. In order to be able to keep track of existing IoT-platform solutions and to be able to better point out advantages and disadvantages, this paper presents a method that supports the suitability and choice of an IoT-platform solution. For this reason, a method will be developed which is based on a matrix in which selected IoT-platform solutions are listed. In addition, criteria for evaluation are detected and an evaluation scheme is integrated. Based on the evaluation the method determines a suitable IoT-platform by taking the customer needs into account. After a brief introduction and portraying the state of the art, the concept of the evaluation matrix is followed by an outlook and a short summary.