IOT: Managing your Embedded Systems and Mobile Devices

Ok, you followed Bret Stateham’s excellent blog on the Galileo, Spark.io and other devices.  Now you want to deploy them securely and update them efficiently.  How do you do that?  Let’s say you have designed a point of sale that uses the Toshiba Encore Mini and a Galileo board to run the scanner, payment system, surveillance video and cash drawer.  How do you keep the Toshiba running Windows 8.1 and the Galileo up to date?  How do you secure them?

Well, the Toshiba is easily secured using one of the many tools from Microsoft as well as our partners, and it’s updating process can be managed using

• System Center Configuration Manager and Intune. 

Embedded Device management scenarios can be found at:

• Example Scenario for Deploying and Managing Configuration Manager Clients on Windows Embedded Devices

What about the Galileo board running the WIM specifically?

• Not sure, but this looks pretty good (this link is different from the “Example Scenario… link above)
  • Deploying the Configuration Manager Client to Windows Embedded Devices

I am working with another person on my team to investigate this.  I believe that  if you are going to make money on embedded systems you have to be thinking about shipping thousands of devices and you will need to have a plan to maintain your software.  It is your ability to maintain, secure and innovate on existing software that will make you the big bucks.  Not as much fun as building hobby stuff, but even hobby stuff could need securing and patching.

Add on devices like the Texas Instrument FRAM technology looks very good at securing your embedded systems and providing a hardware secure system for implementing a successful massive build.