1. Empowering partners with an integrated
IoT application, network and device
management platform
April 15, 2015

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Executive summary
Private and public sector organizations need a rapid and safe way to prototype, design, test,
implement and manage their Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. As the IoT market grows to USD4
trillion with over 24 billion devices by the year 20251
, a well-prepared organization will carefully
review opportunities to use IoT to improve its operational processes and spur innovation.
One of the most important technologies to enable a successful IoT deployment is the IoT application
enablement platform (AEP). MachNation has completed extensive research in the AEP ecosystem
and found that the best AEP vendors incorporate a series of application and device management
capabilities into a scalable, multi-tenant, fault-tolerant, unified platform tool. This tool empowers
partners to develop and manage an IoT solution. And the AEP allows operational technology (OT)
organizations and operationally-focused users to easily analyze and graphically depict IoT data.
Private and public sector organizations are best prepared to capture the value of IoT solutions if they
implement a horizontal AEP with integrated IoT application enablement, fog-based device
management, network management, data visualization and analytics capabilities. A vendor such as
Davra Networks (www.davranetworks.com) with its RuBAN solution provides organizations with a
flexible, secure and integrated AEP to fully leverage current and future IoT deployments. Plus Davra
Networks’ RuBAN solution is available to Cisco sales teams and Cisco partners through Cisco’s Global
Price List (GPL) – a strong endorsement of the AEP solution.
Figure 1: Davra Networks’ role in the IoT technology value chain [Source: MachNation, 2015]

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Recommendations for IoT-ecosystem partners
Choose an IoT AEP vendor with device-centric, fog management tools.
Gateways are powerful elements of the IoT technology solution stack. As secure devices for IoT
solution deployment, gateways also allow unprecedented flexibility in the types of endpoint devices –
SCADA devices, 6LoWPAN sensors, manufacturing PLCs, LoRa-based sensors and others – that are
available to an organization deploying an IoT solution.
Pick an IoT AEP vendor with built-in IoT network quality management.
Often overlooked, IoT network quality management is critical for successful IoT operations. Keep in
mind that one of the most important key performance indicators for OT organizations is asset
uptime. These organizations are responsible for managing use of many IoT solutions, so meeting
network quality-of-service and performance metrics are paramount. IoT AEPs with built-in network
management capabilities have an advantage over those lacking this capability.
Select an IoT AEP built with features to support OT organizations.
OT organizations and other operationally-focused users of an AEP need a way to easily analyze and
depict insights from IoT and outside data. AEPs should have strong data visualization capabilities and
well-developed, graphical mapping engines. OT organizations should be able to use an AEP’s pre-
configured reports or custom-design their own with built-in, drag-and-drop tools.
Ensure that the vendor has a partner-centric sales and support model.
The best AEPs empower their partners – system integrators (SI), value added resellers (VAR),
distributors, operators and service providers – to effectively sell, implement and manage IoT
deployments. Davra Networks’ RuBAN solution is unique: it is included on Cisco’s GPL, making it even
easier for partners to purchase and implement a tested AEP solution.
Aspects of the best IoT AEPs
The role of an IoT AEP is to enable and empower private and public sector organizations to build
award-winning IoT solutions. IoT platforms seek to achieve this by providing a secure, flexible and
manageable software stack that serves as the foundational framework for data, device and
application management for an IoT solution3
.
MachNation believes that a leading IoT AEP must excel in the following functional areas:
 Extensibility and flexibility – the ability to extend the platform beyond the out-of-the-box feature
set, integrate efficiently with other technologies and work well in the preferred development
environment
 Manageability – the ability to administer, monitor and maintain the platform during development,
testing and production phases of the product development lifecycle
 Analytics capabilities – the ability to process and complete quantitative analyses on data used to
drive business decision-making

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 Developer focus – a platform’s cogent system architecture, its publicly available well-documented
Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) and a smooth process for prototyping
 Strength of partner / system integrator network – A platform vendor’s wide-reaching network of
partners and SIs that have the knowledge and expertise to bring award-winning IoT solutions to
market.
Each IoT AEP vendor has a unique approach to the market using different technological approaches.
Likewise, partners in the IoT ecosystem must find credible solutions that have management
capabilities and flexible architectures to fuel successful IoT solution deployments for customers.
Unique technology and business attributes of Davra Networks’ IoT
solution, RuBAN
MachNation has reviewed the unique value attributes of Davra Networks’ RuBAN solution. These
attributes illustrate the ways that Davra Networks’ solution provides the capabilities and tools to
satisfy partners’ and customers’ IoT needs.
Figure 2: Unique attributes of Davra Networks’ RuBAN solution [Source: MachNation, 2015]

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Powerful device and gateway management capabilities
Selecting a platform with strong device management capabilities is critical for organizations deploying
IoT solutions. These capabilities should support the devices that an organization initially deploys, but
equally important, the platform must be future-proof to ensure that additional IoT devices are
supported. Davra Networks’ RuBAN integrates with gateways – powerful devices located in the fog
with rich functionality and computing power. Gateways offer organizations security, quality and
flexibility in their IoT solution deployments. The fog management capabilities of RuBAN provide a set
of features including over-the-air updates of firmware and configuration, zero-touch deployment and
traffic analysis. Other device management vendors that provide generic gateway support or simple
agents that sit on an edge device will not be able to offer the same valuable set of management
capabilities, because RuBAN has been specially built to leverage a large set of gateway features.
Enterprise-grade IoT network quality management
A critically important, but often forgotten part of an IoT solution is the enterprise network. There is an
expectation – often wrongly placed – that the network is optimized for IoT traffic with appropriate
reliability, security and speed. Surprisingly, many IoT AEPs are incapable of maintaining and
optimizing the enterprise network. Davra Networks with its long, successful history of network
management realized the importance of building IoT network quality management into the core of
RuBAN. In order to provide the levels of network management required by quality IoT deployment,
RuBAN includes a comprehensive network management suite by providing services such as quality of
service (e.g., LLQ, WFQ, CBWFQ) and high availability support (e.g.., VRRP, HSRP).
Fog and cloud-based compute architecture
RuBAN provides a versatile computing architecture allowing data processing and business logic to
move seamlessly between the fog and the cloud. This architecture gives an organization the
maximum flexibility in the deployment of IoT solutions. MachNation research shows that an
organization’s IoT requirements grow – a first IoT solution leads to a second, a third and more
solutions. Organizations need flexibility to deploy solutions leveraging both fog and cloud-based
computing. RuBAN’s platform comes with an easy-to-use, but highly extensible logic layer that makes
it easy for organizations to get started while also satisfying advanced requirements. RuBAN allows
organizations and partners to develop IoT applications in both a visual environment or with optional
coding to satisfy an organization’s pre- and post-processing requirements. Organizations can create
highly customized and configured workflows to ensure they are capturing the maximum value from
IoT data.
Comprehensive application enablement and business intelligence platform
Davra Networks has built RuBAN with a horizontal architecture enabling development of a complete
range of vertical IoT solutions. RuBAN is multitenant, enabling partners like SIs, VARs, distributors,
operators and service providers to rely on RuBAN to host numerous customers running a variety of
IoT applications. In addition, RuBAN delivers a rich business intelligence suite built on top of an
enterprise service bus – an industry-agnostic data layer. Using device data, RuBAN delivers a user-

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friendly and flexible user interface complete with analytics, a visual business rule builder and a drag-
and-drop dashboard builder. This empowers organizations to use RuBAN not only to acquire,
process and manage IoT data, but also make sense of it and drive intelligent business process
changes.
Rich, enterprise-grade APIs
RuBAN comes with a set of extensive enterprise-grade APIs that facilitate application development.
Organizations often integrate their IoT applications with existing on-premises enterprise applications,
cloud-based enterprise applications, third-party applications and various databases. Having a robust
set of enterprise-grade APIs is critical so organizations can maximize the value from their IoT data.
Davra Networks’ APIs enable rapid and secure integrations between IoT applications, other
applications and databases, thereby simplifying the prototyping, testing and time-to-market for IoT
solutions.
Cisco Global Price List availability
Davra Networks’ RuBAN and ancillary support services are offered on the exclusive Cisco Global Price
List (GPL). The GPL enables Cisco’s sales teams and thousands of Cisco partners to purchase Davra
Networks’ solutions quickly and easily. Pricing for RuBAN is simple and linked to the number of Cisco
gateways supported in an organization’s IoT deployments. Pricing based on data volumes is also
available for wide area Low Power Wireless Sensor Networks (LPWSN) deployments based on LoRa
technology. RuBAN’s inclusion on the GPL and thorough compatibility testing with Cisco’s line of IoT
gateways give partners an added level of technical and market assurance in Davra Networks’
solutions. Currently, RuBAN is the only IoT AEP available on Cisco’s GPL.
Conclusions
Private and public sector organizations need rapid and safe ways to implement and manage IoT
deployments. The best IoT AEPs allow organizations to develop IoT solutions across multiple
business areas while providing tools to automate the management of applications and devices.
IoT AEPs like Davra Networks’ RuBAN provide a horizontal platform with integrated application
enablement, fog-based device management, network management, data visualization and analytics
capabilities. These capabilities empower partners to prototype, design, test, implement and manage
IoT solutions for organizations across numerous IoT verticals such as transportation, manufacturing,
remote asset monitoring and utilities. The best IoT AEP vendors have created strategies and
frameworks to successfully engage with partners for mutual success in the IoT ecosystem.
1
MachNation, 2015.
2
IoT Application Platform ScoreCard 2014, MachNation
3
ibid., p. 2.

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MachNation (pronounced mak-ney-shun) is the only dedicated insight services and
application development firm covering the future of the Internet of things (IoT), Internet
of everything (IoE), connected device and machine-to-machine (M2M) ecosystems.
MachNation specializes in understanding and predicting these technology sectors
including developments in hardware, platforms, communication services and
applications. MachNation specialists have provided guidance, consulting services and
support to the majority of the world’s leading IT and communications firms.
For more information, please contact info@machnation.com.