The edge security feature is what is most important for us. We were using certain microcontrollers also. Ensuring that the micro controls or the edge devices that we are using are risk-free and more compliant, and when we were burning our firmware, that is the place where we were actually using. Our use was very limited, however, we went for Azure Sphere for the simple reason that we wanted to minimize the cybersecurity-related risk over the edge devices.
It's more of a closed integration with the other Azure stacks. People, when they go for some IT app development, know that they have to go for Azure SQL. They have to use a certain platform for visualizations. However, Azure Sphere is something that still needs to give more confidence to its users. Probably more integration of Azure Sphere with its entire technology stack is something that Microsoft can do to make it a very approachable tool for others. Otherwise, it's a friendly tool and it's a good tool.
The type of edge devices being addressed through the suite was limited, however, even that has also significantly increased.
I've used the solution for a couple of months, just for one client. I used it eight months back.
It's stable and the performance has been great. So far my experience has been good. There weren't any bugs or glitches and it didn't crash or freeze.
Scalability-wise, the devices that I was using were around 25 in number, and the solution was easy to deploy. I just need to duplicate the solution, my firmware, to 20 other devices, which was pretty easy. I didn't find any issue with that.
The only thing is, that is something that we still need to evaluate, how good is this Azure Sphere in the industrial setup? There's a solution called Kepware From PTC that takes care of industrial tools and industrial communication. With that kind of scalability, if Azure Sphere can also achieve it at industrial levels, that would be good. It is good for connected products. For example, a home connected device like Alexa, et cetera. However, from a factory ecosystem point of view, it still needs to achieve that kind of maturity.
All documentation is available. Every single step-by-step instruction is available in terms of guidance and documentation. Getting any hands-on support from their technicians was also not a problem. My experience, overall, was positive.
I wasn't actually involved in the initial setup. I'm not the right person to comment on that. When I wanted to use it, I just asked them and they got it installed.
We did not really evaluate any other option before using this solution.
We have a strategic ecosystem partnership with Microsoft.
I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.
