Azure IoT Operations Simplifies Edge, IoT

• Azure IoT Operations provides capabilities to simplify IoT deployments, data operations, and management at the edge.
• It can help applications at the edge reduce latency, better support occasionally connected scenarios, and comply with data sovereignty requirements.
• Licensing has not been announced. 

Azure IoT Operations, an edge-computing service in preview, could make deployment and management of Internet of Things (IoT) solutions at remote (edge) locations simpler. Azure IoT Operations provides built-in IoT protocol processing, data management, and integration with Azure Arc and Azure cloud services. Azure IoT Operations can simplify end-to-end data flows from IoT devices to Azure services such as Fabric, where detailed analytics can be performed.

Edge Computing 

Edge computing, that is, placing compute resources close to users or devices (such as IoT devices), enables data to be processed locally, thus minimizing communications latency with devices, supporting occasionally disconnected scenarios, and providing autonomous operations. Edge computing finds uses in manufacturing, energy, mining, healthcare (hospital operations), and “nomadic” (cruise ships, airlines) scenarios, among others. Additionally, local processing at the edge can help maintain operations where connectivity can be disrupted, and it can support data sovereignty requirements by processing data locally rather than sending it to a cloud datacenter in another geographic region.