Giving a nod to the enormous number of Internet-connected devices expected to hit the streets by the year 2020, Verizon (NYSE: VZ) said it's launching a new enterprise portal for its Managed Certificate Services (MCS) platform that offers digital certificate creation and management capabilities for large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) deployments. And by "large scale," it means in the "tens of millions."
Acting as a first line of defense, Verizon's MCS platform is geared to authenticate objects and machines, verifying object and machine "identities" for the trusted exchange of information and securing data transmitted between these connections, the company said in a press release.
According to Verizon, enterprises don't need to make big capital investments. The new portal features usage-based pricing and is aimed at helping organizations control management costs for securing the IoT.
The company cites a recent Harvard Business Review Internet of Things report that found maintaining privacy and regulatory compliance is the No. 1 obstacle (46 percent) blocking IoT deployment for enterprises. Another 28 percent were concerned about securing IoT sensors and associated data.
The new portal is now available in the U.S., Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
Last year, Verizon announced it was teaming up with General Electric to provide connectivity for GE's software-enabled industrial machines and devices. That partnership came exactly a year after GE struck a similar arrangement with AT&T (NYSE: T). At the time, GE said it would use Verizon's M2M and cloud platforms to create secure a wireless communications system for the "Industrial Internet," a segment of the Internet of Things.
The Industrial Internet includes everything from engines and turbines to lighting systems that are hooked up with wireless sensors. GE also developed Predix, a software platform designed to provide remote monitoring, diagnostics and maintenance to support industrial machines.
For more:
- see this press release
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