Microsoft has announced a new set of Azure tools to handle the needs of the Internet Of Things at its Convergence 2015 business user conference in Atlanta

During his keynote at the annual Convergence conference Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella spoke to attendees about the evolution of business systems, and how the business process transformation has gone hand in hand with advancements in technology.

“Businesses are hungry to seize new opportunities using technologies like machine learning and predictive analytics,” said Nadella. Adding “Only when businesses create a culture that empowers everyone to have access to data and insight that drive action will they be positioned to truly transform.”

Microsoft Azure IoT Suite and Stream Analytics

The new Microsoft Azure IoT Suite is aimed at helping businesses to connect, manage and analyse all of their “things.” Available in preview later this year, the new offering will provide businesses with finished applications targeting common Internet of Things (IoT) scenarios — such as remote monitoring, asset management and predictive maintenance.  

Additionally Azure Stream Analytics - currently in preview – is aimed at helping organisations process massive amounts of real-time, incoming data from “things” and services, allowing them to  predict trends and automate service and responses.  Stream Analytics will be generally available next month and is designed to be used either as part of Azure IoT or as a standalone service.

Microsoft also announced that Windows 10 will provide versions of Windows for a diverse set of IoT devices, under the Windows 10 IoT brand name. Windows 10 IoT will offer one Windows platform with universal applications and driver models that will span a wide range of devices, from low-footprint controllers such as IoT gateways to ATMs and industrial robotics. Windows 10 IoT will also bring enterprise-grade security from the device to the cloud and native connectivity for machine-to-machine and machine-to-cloud scenarios with Azure IoT services.

Microsoft also announced the Spring ’15 release for Microsoft Dynamics CRM - expected by the end of the second quarter of 2015 - will be faster, and have improved interoperability with Office 365, and will include new knowledge management enhancements to  improve efficiency and collaboration between workers and businesses.

Lastly its Power BI service, will include new connectors, dashboards and reports for Google Analytics, Microsoft Dynamics Marketing, Zuora, Acumatica and Twilio. No definite timescale is available as yet Microsoft are just saying the connectors will be available ‘soon’.