Amazon Web Services Inc. said today its “internet of things” service AWS IoT SiteWise has finally become generally available in its US East, US West, Frankfurt and Ireland regions.

The managed service, which was launched in preview in November 2018, is aimed at customers that need to monitor sensor-enabled industrial equipment. It enables those industrial firms to monitor data collection points across their facilities to identify any potential issues, including equipment failure and production defects. For example, an energy provider can use the service to monitor the status of their wind farm turbines. In addition, the service helps centralize data collection.

Customers can connect their industrial gear to AWS IoT SiteWise via a gateway that links their on-premises servers to the AWS cloud, where the data is gathered for analysis. They also gain access to the SiteWise console, which allows them to create customized web applications that can be used to monitor their industrial devices and visualize various metrics from PCs, smartphones and tablets.

“Industrial customers tell us that getting their data into the cloud and using it to understand their operational performance is the biggest opportunity they see when evaluating IoT solutions,” Dirk Didascalou, vice president of IoT for AWS, said in a statement. “With SiteWise, industrial customers can now use the power of AWS to collect, organize, and monitor their industrial equipment data at scale. SiteWise will help industrial customers move beyond data collection and enable them to visualize and monitor all their equipment, so they can focus on their main job of optimizing their operations.”

Constellation Research Inc. analyst Holger Mueller told SiliconANGLE that collecting, organizing and making sense of IoT data is one of the biggest challenges when building applications that need to leverage it.

“Purpose built products like AWS Sitewise are a huge help for enterprises, as they allow them to focus on the value-added part of their IoT apps, such as predictive maintenance, dashboards, asset modelling, and mass customization,” Mueller said. “They also mean enterprises don’t have to waste precious developer resources on the “plumbing part” of those applications.”

Amazon said AWS IoT SiteWise has proven popular with early customers, including Volkswagen Group, Bayer Crop Science and Pentair Plc. Customers are billed based on how much they use the service, with separate bills for messaging, data storage, data processing and SiteWise Monitor.

Image: Amazon