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title description author ms.author ms.date ms.topic ms.service services ms.custom manager
Microsoft Azure IoT options | Microsoft Docs
Choose how to implement your Azure IoT solution using Azure IoT Central, IoT solution accelerators, or IoT Hub.
dominicbetts
dobett
11/30/2017
overview
iot-central
iot-central
mvc
timlt

Compare Azure IoT Central and Azure IoT options

To implement an IoT solution, Microsoft Azure IoT Central and Azure IoT offer several options, each appropriate for different sets of customer requirements:

  • Azure IoT Central is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution that uses a model-based approach to enable you to build enterprise-grade IoT solutions without requiring cloud solution development expertise.

  • Azure IoT solution accelerators is an enterprise-grade collection of solution accelerators built on Azure Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) that enable you to accelerate the development of custom IoT solutions.

Azure IoT Hub

Azure IoT Hub is the core Azure PaaS that both Azure IoT Central and Azure IoT solution accelerators use. IoT Hub enables reliable and secure bidirectional communications between millions of IoT devices and a cloud solution. IoT Hub helps you meet IoT implementation challenges such as:

  • High-volume device connectivity and management.
  • High-volume telemetry ingestion.
  • Command and control of devices.
  • Device security enforcement.

Compare Azure IoT Central and Azure IoT solution accelerators

Choosing your Azure IoT product is a critical part of planning your IoT solution. IoT Hub is an individual Azure service that doesn't, by itself, provide an end-to-end IoT solution. IoT Hub can be used as a starting point for any IoT solution, and you don’t need to use Azure IoT solution accelerators or Azure IoT Central to use it. Both IoT solution accelerators and Azure IoT Central use IoT Hub along with other Azure services. The following table summarizes the key differences between IoT solution accelerators and Azure IoT Central to help you choose the correct one for your requirements:

Azure IoT Central Azure IoT solution accelerators
Primary usage To accelerate time to market for straightforward IoT solutions that don’t require deep service customization. To accelerate development of a custom IoT solution that needs maximum flexibility.
Access to underlying PaaS services SaaS. Fully managed solution, the underlying services aren't exposed. You have access to the underlying Azure services to manage them, or replace them as needed.
Flexibility Medium. You can use the built-in browser-based user experience to customize the solution model and aspects of the UI. The infrastructure is not customizable because the different components are not exposed. High. The code for the microservices is open source and you can modify it in any way you see fit. Additionally, you can customize the deployment infrastructure.
Skill level Low. You need modeling skills to customize the solution. No coding skills are required. Medium-High. You need Java or .NET skills to customize the solution back end. You need JavaScript skills to customize the visualization.
Get started experience Application templates and device templates provide pre-built models. Can be deployed in minutes. Preconfigured solutions implement common IoT scenarios. Can be deployed in minutes.
Pricing Simple, predictable pricing structure. You can fine-tune the services to control the cost.

The decision of which product to use to build your IoT solution is ultimately determined by:

  • Your business requirements.
  • The type of solution you want to build
  • Your organization's skill set for building and maintaining the solution in the long term.

Next steps

Based on your chosen product and approach, the suggested next steps are: