How is ThingWorx different from Axeda and should you consider moving? Since PTC acquired ThingWorx back in 2013, it was clear that the parametric …
What is Axeda, what functionality it provides?
The Axeda Platform, acquired by PTC in 2014, is a secure and scalable foundation to build and deploy enterprise-grade applications for connected products.
Solutions built on top of the Axeda Platform allow customers to remotely access connected products, monitor their usage, diagnose and repair, as well as proactively detect problems and even manage software deployed at those devices. At its peak, Axeda’s technology was processing hundreds of millions of machine messages daily across multiple industry sectors, clearly leading the market of M2M (machine-to-machine) and M2C (machine-to-cloud) communication solutions.
Axeda portfolio of products comprises of:
Axeda Platform
A set of software components that receive, send, and present data about the devices
Axeda Agents
A variety of small software pieces/SDKs that run on edge devices providing connectivity and remote control to/from the platform
Axeda Global Access Servers
Allowing remote control sessions to go through different than Axeda Platform set of servers, keeping the edge device and remote user closer geographically and reducing network lag
Axeda Policy Server
Application for granular configuration of Axeda Agent security policies
Axeda Platform
Application allowing the customization and configuration of Axeda Agents
Axeda portfolio of products comprises of:
Getting connected
Offering an easy way to build ephemeral tunnels that allow connecting to devices that are deep behind firewalls and NAT’s with RDP, VNC, SSH, or other protocols.
Managing and orchestrating
automating device behavior based on inputs from other systems, real-time conditions, etc., as well as synchronizing, analyzing, and integrating
Presenting and reporting
Enabling interaction between humans and connected products for managing workflows, facilitating data analysis
Easy remote access
Offering an easy way to build ephemeral tunnels that allow connecting to devices that are deep behind firewalls and NAT’s with RDP, VNC, SSH, or other protocols.
Axeda, however, was never intended to be used as a solution for integrating various other systems’ inputs. It does its job of remote device management but is not perfectly suited for extending and building functionality around it.
Axeda was indeed one of the first digital twin software products on the market, even before that name was wildly used.
When did PTC announce Axeda end of life? Introduction to ThingWorx
ThingWorx
It has been clear since the moment PTC purchased Axeda that they would soon sunset that product. While customers were concerned about which direction to follow, Axeda’s End-of-Life (EOL) was known for quite a while now.
Even PTC’s Product Calendar from March 2018 (PDF) clearly states cut-off dates for various products. For the Axeda Platform (“Axeda Service Application Product – Server”) it is December 31st, 2020. While some customers may be offered premium, paid extended support through December 31st, 2021, that is the final date. Starting January 1st, 2022 there will be no further updates, patches, maintenance releases, etc. for the Axeda line of products.
At the same time, PTC’s message was equally clear: existing Axeda customers should transition to ThingWorx – PTC’s IoT platform (or Industrial Innovation Platform – as PTC calls it), which allows for rapid application development, flexible modelling, and much more – all packaged in a modern technology stack.
Learn more about Thingworx:
ThingWorx Foundation
Manufacturing Apps
ThingWorx Analytics
Kepware Industrial Connectivity for ThingWorx
While a few years ago ThingWorx was nowhere near prepared to even remotely-easily fill in for Axeda, things changed significantly. Currently, ThingWorx supports a slew of functionality previously only available through Axeda, including even connecting to Axeda Agents deployed on devices.
Although these Agents will also have to be replaced with ThingWorx Agents in the future, this provides some additional breathing room, as Axeda Agents will not lose support for a few more years.
There are many differences between ThingWorx and Axeda, but the most major one is that ThingWorx allows much more configuration and customization than Axeda, while keeping those added capabilities easy to use. Furthermore, ThingWorx family of products introduces significantly more capabilities in other fields like Augmented Reality, Machine Learning/Artificial intelligence, and even Industrial Connectivity. Please refer to this article to learn more about the differences between ThingWorx and Axeda.
Learn more about the differences between ThingWorx and Axeda
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How can TTPSC help with the transition? What other services we do around Axeda?
TTPSC is one of only 5 organizations designated by PTC (owners of both Axeda and ThingWorx platforms) as capable of completely handling the transition process for any customer. This means our experts can help organizations assess the effort and investment needed to transition, design and develop new solutions that will replace technologies going EOL, as well as provide end-to-end consulting to guide such organizations through the process to ensure maximum transparency and value provided to customers.
We are looking forward to doing business with you!
We will help you not only create a plan for retiring Axeda in your organization and execute on it, but we will also analyze which features of ThingWorx your organization can leverage, which were unavailable in Axeda, to provide your company with a competitive edge.
We also provide help with mapping Axeda roles, groups to a set of security features that are available in ThingWorx to allow more granular control of access to your assets in the field.
As a Global System Integrator for PTC solutions, our portfolio of services spans across the entire scope of activities needed to ensure your successful transition from Axeda to the Industrial Innovation Platform. We provide services in the following areas, among others:
Installation, administration and hosting (both Cloud and On-premise) for companies which need such services due to regulatory compliance requirements
ThingWorx application development
ThingWorx integrations with 3rd party systems
Analytics solutions for predictive maintenance
ThingWorx trainings for users, developers and administrators (maintenance)