IBM, ARM collaborate on refining Internet of Things deployment

"People can use ARM chipsets to build IoT applications and analytics in an easy, productive way, without worrying about how to glue things together all the time," said Bret Greenstein, IBM vice president of IoT.

IBM has also enhanced its IoT cloud platform, called IBM IoT Foundation, with new capabilities for risk management and data analysis. Based on IBM's Bluemix platform services, the IoT Foundation is a set of cloud-based configuration, security, operational, and analysis services that can be used to power distributed IoT systems.

The partnership with ARM centers on ARM's mbed line of processors, which were designed specifically for driving low-power, Internet-connected devices.

The mbed processors are ideally suited for industrial appliances, weather sensors and wearable monitoring, among other uses, according to IBM.

The integration means that the IBM cloud can recognize devices running mbed automatically, without additional administrative configuration. The platform can collect health and operational data from these devices. The data then can be used for managing and optimizing the devices, and be analyzed to find ways to improve operations.

The integration also provides an easier way to control remote IoT equipment and to send alerts to users of the devices. A defective washing machine, for instance, could alert the user that a repair person has been dispatched.

In addition to supporting mbed processors, the IoT Foundation now has additional tools to help with risk management.

"Risk management is one of the biggest topics with our clients," Greenstein said. Organizations building large IoT networks want to use cloud analytics to ensure their end-nodes are secure. No one wants to repeat the recent incident where security researchers infiltrated the control system of the Jeep automobile, Greenstein said.

"You can look at behaviors of systems to see if they are acting as if they should," Greenstein said.

IBM is also customizing the IoT Foundation for specific industries, such as finance, energy and government. Most recently, the company has revealed a set of services for electronic manufacturers, providing a way to gather performance data from consumer and electronic devices, such as television sets.