Microsoft unveiled its Azure Sphere product suite at the RSA Conference : It includes the Azure Sphere OS operating systems developed for IoT applications, the Azure Sphere Security Service via cloud and microcontrollers specifically certified for both. The first Azure Sphere Chip MediaTek MT3620 is expected to be available later this year. Microsoft will provide developer kits mid-2018. The first devices protected by Azure Sphere will be released on the market by the end of the year.

With Azure Sphere, Microsoft is responding to one of the most common concerns. According to a study commissioned by service provider Interxion , 55% of European business managers are “very worried” about the safety of IoT applications, so much so that the adoption of these technologies has fallen short of expectations. That should change this year. As IDC has determined in a survey , 78% of machine and plant manufacturers are planning at least one IoT project. 76% plan to have their own IoT budget by 2018.