My handy toolkit for my Azure IoT Project – Starting Out

As some of you know, I’m part of an Internet of Things project (IoT). IoT is the latest buzzword, but honestly, in my opinion, it is all just data. The data may have a different velocity, and it may be fired at you in different shapes. A lot of the problems are still the same; how to store it, how to clean it, how to interpret it and analyse it.

The added complexity for me in IoT, from the perspective of a Business Intelligence specialist, is that I am not familiar with devices or any of the communication stacks for transferring data. I am learning very fast, and I’m glad to say that I’m surrounded by a great team who explain the details very clearly. I am learning about all sorts, from the details of electrical engineering through to protocols. I am enjoying the challenge. I have learned a lot, and I’ll try to share through my blog as the journey progresses.

In the meantime, I thought I’d share some of the tools and IP that I’ve been garnering as I go along this journey. This page is likely to be updated as we go along, so please keep checking back. Please note that I am not affiliated with any of these vendors in any way, and if you find other tools, please do share them with me.

Management of Azure for my IoT project

For the purposes of managing Azure storage, applications and diagnostics, I use the Azure Management Studio by Cerebrata Software, which is ultimately owned by Red Gate Software. Why do I like it? Well, you can find a detailed list of the features here but here’s why I like using it in practice:

• I find that the interface is clean and crisp, and I can navigate it easily. I don’t have to think about using the technology, to get it to do what I want.
• In an IoT project, particularly during the research phase, you’re not really sure how much data is being emitted. It may be more or less than predicted. With the Azure Management Studio, I can keep an eye on my storage – and therefore my costs.
• With any project which involves early adoption of new technology, it’s important that key stakeholders are reassured about the performance and reliability of the technology. The Azure Management Studio has a series of dashboards, and this helps me to tell the story of Azure to key stakeholders.

Management of IoT Projects

I prefer to use Microsoft Project to manage projects. I have built a default IoT Project Plan using Microsoft Project, and I tailor it for each project that I’m involved in. I use Project Online with Office365 because I like having everything in one place, and it is easy to share it. I use Excel to list out tasks for people who don’t have Project, or don’t know how to use it. If people are interested, I can share the files.

If you don’t have access to Microsoft Project, then I recommend Zoho Projects. Quite frankly it’s an undiscovered gem. It’s free for one project, or you can pay $20 per month for 20 projects. This is cloud software at it’s best; functional, cheap, flexible and pay as you go. At that price, you’d be crazy not to try at least the free version.

I also use Trello and Wunderlist to manage tasks: I use Trello because the other team members seem to like it. I use Wunderlist more as a brain dumping ground, and I don’t share that with anyone.

I also like JIRA to log bugs, workflows and so on. I’ve been using the online version for years, and there is really no substitute for it.

If you’re thinking of starting an IoT project, or want to know more, then please email us at IoT@DataRelish.com and I will see if I can help you, or I can perhaps put you in touch with other people who can help.