Posts by KC Web Specialists
What self-discovery really means: The hidden power of Sparkplug and MQTT
In industrial systems, self-discovery is often seen as a convenience. something that saves time during configuration. But in practice, it’s much more than that. Self-discovery is a foundational concept that transforms how organizations deploy, scale, and maintain their OT infrastructure. When implemented correctly, it eliminates manual effort, reduces errors, and enables a new level of…
Read MoreWhy context is everything: Avoiding data swamps in the cloud
In industrial operations, getting data to the cloud is critical to gain insights for increased productivity. Getting the data is simpler; the challenge today is making that data useful once it gets there. Too often, companies race to implement cloud connectivity, collect massive volumes of OT data, and then find themselves stuck. The dashboards don’t…
Read MoreHow efficient data handling saves thousands in cloud fees
In modern industrial environments, pushing operational data to the cloud is no longer a futuristic idea — it’s an expectation. Whether you’re enabling analytics in Snowflake, monitoring energy use across sites, or training machine learning models, access to clean, timely data from the plant floor is essential. But there’s a cost — and not just…
Read MoreMQTT’s legacy: Report by Exception, openness, and the road ahead
By Arlen Nipper, Co-Creator of MQTT and CTO of Cirrus Link Solutions Just joining us? Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the MQTT story. Once we had the MQTT client and broker model up and running, we began seeing the impact of the architecture, especially when we started eliminating the old poll/response…
Read MoreInventing MQTT: building a protocol from the ground up
By Arlen Nipper, Co-creator of MQTT and CTO of Cirrus Link Solutions Just joining us? Read part 1 and part 2 of the MQTT story. In that small office at Phillips 66, Andy Stanford-Clark and I began the process of designing what would eventually become MQTT. We weren’t looking to create a standard. We were…
Read MoreWhat is Sparkplug?
The key to plug-and-play industrial data In the world of industrial automation, accessing real-time data is no longer the biggest hurdle—getting that data to work together across systems is. That’s where Sparkplug comes in. Sparkplug is an open-source specification that works with MQTT to bring context, structure, and state awareness to industrial data. It’s the…
Read MoreThe spark: TCP/IP, publish/subscribe, and the search for a better way
By Arlen Nipper, Co-Creator of MQTT and CTO of Cirrus Link Solutions Just joining us? Read part 1 of the MQTT story. As the reliability of AT&T’s circuits faded and the complexity of proprietary VSAT protocols grew, oil and gas companies were desperate for a better communication model. Enter TCP/IP — and a visionary customer…
Read MoreDemystifying MQTT & Sparkplug: The backbone of industrial IoT
The rise of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has ushered in a new era of connectivity, real-time data exchange, and smarter decision-making. At the heart of this transformation are two key technologies: MQTT and Sparkplug. While they are widely recognized in the IIoT world, many professionals still find them complex. This post aims to…
Read MoreThe legacy of SCADA and serial protocols: Laying the groundwork for MQTT
By Arlen Nipper, Co-creator of MQTT and CTO of Cirrus Link Solutions In this four-part article series, I’ll explain the technologies and events that led up to Andy Stanford-Clark and me creating MQTT as we know it today. At the time, I was the CTO of Arcom Control Systems. Arcom developed and manufactured SCADA industrial…
Read MoreNew release for IoT Bridge for Snowflake
Unlocking OT-to-IT data integration just got easier We’re excited to announce a new release of IoT Bridge for Snowflake, a major update that makes it easier than ever for manufacturers to move real-time operational data into Snowflake’s powerful data cloud. As organizations accelerate their digital transformation efforts, the ability to collect, contextualize, and analyze OT…
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