Verizon Business has announced plans to fast-track its end-to-end IoT solution programme, and has made available ‘all critical components' in the IoT value chain to customers.

The company also announced that its 5G network, its ThingSpace IoT platform and its Critical Asset Sensor devices have all been integrated with Microsoft Azure, with the goal of streamlining the creation of new IoT applications.

Verizon says IoT system builders, integrators and service providers are all able to deploy IoT solutions through the company's new ThingSpace and Azure integration.

“This is about simplifying IoT solution development,” says Verizon Business senior vice president of business products Aamir Hussain.

“By integrating the Verizon and Microsoft platforms, we are enabling IoT builders to more easily get their solutions to market, and ultimately, into the hands of users.

“It's about moving the IoT industry forward and making it easier for businesses and consumers to benefit from IoT innovation.

Microsoft general manager of IoT business acceleration Tony Shakib says the simplification of IoT has been a project of the company for a while.

“Microsoft has been on a mission to simplify IoT by introducing Azure IoT Central, IoT Plug and Play and other Azure solutions,” says Shakib.

“The integration with Verizon makes it easier and to build cellular IoT solutions by leveraging Verizon's network and ThingSpace platform.

One of the first large enterprise ‘builders', Cognizant, is an early adopter of the integrated platform, using it to develop an IoT application for the efficient management and use of cold storage, which supports vital business operations for perishables, including storage and shipping of food and pharmaceuticals.

For example, the application monitors prescription drugs while in storage to ensure they are in optimal condition, safeguarding the quality of the pharmaceuticals that are distributed to customers and reducing the amount of perished inventory.

Cognizant's solution gives pharmaceutical retailers greater visibility of inventory throughout the transit pipeline, and Cognizant global head of IoT Frank Antonysamy says the integration announced today has further guaranteed the safety of distributed food and medicine.

“The global pandemic has disrupted nearly every supply chain. Connected IoT solutions are more essential than ever to protect all of us,” says Antonysamy.

“Every temperature-sensitive product can now be monitored to ensure product integrity from shipping through to the consumer.

“Working with Verizon and Microsoft on the ThingSpace platform enables us to deploy new technologies to help ensure that the food we eat and medicines we take are safe.