Partner technology platform
thethings.io
An established IoT platform that ZouhThings uses for device connectivity, device management and monitoring. ZouhThings designs and integrates the solutions built on it; the platform itself is provided by thethings.io.
Ownership and attribution
Platform overview
What thethings.io is, and how ZouhThings uses it
thethings.io is a commercial Internet-of-Things platform supplied by its provider. ZouhThings uses it as the platform layer beneath much of its IoT work rather than rebuilding equivalent infrastructure for each project.
On a ZouhThings project the platform provides the connectivity, device management and monitoring layer. The work above it — integration with existing systems, business logic, reporting and operational handover — is designed and delivered by ZouhThings.
This page describes the platform only as far as has been confirmed in writing. Capability detail that requires documentation from the provider is marked as awaiting confirmation rather than assumed.
What ZouhThings does
- Solution design and architecture on top of the platform.
- Device selection, provisioning and field integration.
- Integration with existing enterprise and operational systems.
- Deployment, testing, handover and ongoing support.
The problem
Connected-device challenges
These difficulties are characteristic of connected-device programmes in general. They explain why a platform layer is used at all, and are not a list of features of any particular platform.
Device and protocol diversity
A single deployment usually mixes hardware generations, vendors and transport protocols. Without a common layer, each addition becomes a bespoke integration.
Scale and device lifecycle
Devices are commissioned, moved, repaired, replaced and decommissioned continuously. Knowing what exists, where it is and what state it is in gets harder as a deployment grows.
Inconsistent data
Readings arrive in different units, formats and intervals. Without normalisation, data from two device types cannot be compared or reported on together.
Connectivity that is not continuous
Field devices lose their link. A system that assumes an always-on connection turns ordinary network gaps into what look like faults.
Security exposure
Every connected device is a potential entry point. Provisioning, credentials, updates and network separation all have to be handled deliberately rather than by default.
Distance from the systems that matter
Device data has limited value until it reaches the systems where work is actually planned, assigned and recorded.
Capabilities
Main capabilities
The capabilities below are the ones ZouhThings has an approved written basis for. The remaining candidates are listed separately by name only: they are common to IoT platforms, but they have not been verified against approved thethings.io documentation, so this page does not describe them or present them as capabilities. Each will be moved up once the provider supplies documentation.
Device connectivity
Connecting field devices to the platform so that their data is available in one place rather than per device or per vendor tool.
Device management
Registering and administering connected devices across a deployment, which is how ZouhThings keeps track of what is in the field.
Monitoring
Observing the state of devices and of the deployment as a whole. This is the capability ZouhThings relies on most directly in its IoT work.
Candidate capabilities awaiting provider documentation
Awaiting approved documentation from the platform provider.
- Data ingestion
- Dashboards
- Rules and alerts
- API integration
- Analytics
- Multi-project management
How it works
Device and data workflow
The end-to-end path from a field device through the platform to a business system needs to be described from provider documentation to be accurate.
Information to be supplied
Device and data workflow
Awaiting approved documentation from the platform provider.
Visualisation
Dashboards and analytics
What the platform offers for visualisation and analysis, and what ZouhThings builds alongside it, is being confirmed with the provider.
Information to be supplied
Dashboards and analytics
Awaiting approved documentation from the platform provider.
Integration
Integration options
The platform's supported integration routes will be listed here once they are confirmed. ZouhThings' own systems-integration capability is described on the Systems Integration page.
Information to be supplied
Integration options
Awaiting approved documentation from the platform provider.
Security
Security considerations
The considerations ZouhThings works through when designing a connected-device deployment.
Device identity and credentials
How each device is issued an identity, how its credentials are stored, and how they are rotated or revoked, decided per deployment rather than assumed.
Network design
Segmentation between field networks and enterprise systems, with controlled routes between them rather than open connectivity.
Access control
Who can view and change what, aligned to the customer's existing identity and access model where one is in place.
Data handling
Where data is stored, how long it is retained and who it is shared with, agreed before a deployment rather than after.
Update and patch process
A defined route for device firmware and platform updates, including how an update is tested before it reaches the field.
These are the considerations ZouhThings addresses when designing a deployment. They are not a description of thethings.io's internal security controls. Nothing on this page states or implies a security certification, accreditation or compliance status for the platform or for ZouhThings. Platform security documentation must be requested from the provider.
Applications
Possible use cases
Remote asset monitoring
Can support monitoring of distributed equipment in cases where manual inspection is slow, costly or unsafe.
Environmental and utility measurement
May enable collection of readings from meters and sensors across a service area, brought together in one place.
Facility and building systems
Relevant to bringing separate building and facility equipment into a single operational view.
Infrastructure condition monitoring
Designed for situations where the condition of dispersed infrastructure needs to be observed over time rather than inspected occasionally.
Equipment and fleet visibility
Can support visibility of mobile or portable assets alongside fixed installations.
Possible use cases include the applications above. They describe what the platform and ZouhThings' integration work are suited to. They are not descriptions of delivered projects, and no customer deployment is referenced on this page.
Industries
Target industries
These are sectors that the platform and ZouhThings' integration capability are relevant to. Listing a sector is not a statement that ZouhThings has delivered a project in it.
Next step
Request a demonstration
ZouhThings can show how a solution is designed, built and integrated on thethings.io.
TEXPO Damascus
See the platform at TEXPO
thethings.io is part of the IoT demonstration ZouhThings plans to run at TEXPO in Damascus.
Event details and the full demonstration list are on the TEXPO page.