Managing over the air with WisDM

Here, at RAK we are listening to our customers and always strive to give them the best experience out there. Also, we are hearing the pleas for better management options for large-scale deployments. Moreover, we are taking it to a whole new level! Managing over the air made a reality with the newest service from RAKwireless – WisDM.

Let the questions fly our way! What is WisDM? Who is it for? Is it really that great? Bring them on and keep reading.

As the name suggests, WisDM is a cloud-based Device Management platform that integrates all gateways from the WisGate Edge series. The thing will enable you to manage hundreds of gateways at once and from any place around the world. You heard right. WisDM will give you access to your gateways without the need for physical nearness. Your gateways are scattered across the country? Manage them all from the comforts of your office (or home ;) )! That is possible not only because it is cloud-basedbut with the help of the integrated functionality within WisDM. We are talking about features that allow configuration of the gateway before the gateway itself is connected to the internet/deployed in the field, templates for configuration, and the ability to configure multiple gateways at one go.

Not only that. OTA (Over The Air) updates and OTAP (Over The Air Provisioning) are available and with the user-friendly interface of WisDM. Installing the newest firmware to all gateways from your fleet, or making changes to their settings, will cost you just a few clicks. The usefulness and intuitiveness of the interface are backed with the available widgets that let you have a quick overview of the network situation. And for more in-depth management options you have an SSH (Secure SHell) terminal you can enter for each device, right there in WisDM.

Digging deep and working in device manufacturing, firmware development, and software creation, RAKwireless offers an all-in-one solution for Enterprises. This is our unique advantage, where competitors only offer IoT (SaaS) Management Solutions that rely on third-party API's from the device manufacturer. WisDM is not merely a system that allows commercial clients to manage connected assets. It is an IoT platform that helps to connect things quickly, build a data-driven business, generate new insights, and drive action.

WisDM is a Platform as a Service (PaaS) that facilitates setup and maintenance tools for IoT networks, gateways, nodes, and data storage while adhering to robust security protocols.

To be able to access this Device Management platform you do not need a VPN client or any other additional software. This is possible because of another innovation from RAK – WisGateOS – a unified Operating System for all WisGate Edge gateways.

The future of RAK’s gateways is WisGateOS

Once you are in, you have the freedom to create your account and team as you please. With the role management system, you can have different people responsible for different activities regarding your network. Multi-level user (organization) management with defined roles ranging from operational to observer-only, so no one person would need to do all the work in large deployments.

Now is the time to mention another innovation RAKwireless is happy to release! For accessing a platform like WisDM, you naturally need some credentials. Those credentials come with the name RAK ID. A set of verification information strings that will play the role of credentials for this and future services. One RAK ID credential for all RAK can offer!

WisDM is too good of a product to keep it only for our direct clients. Even though we made it so anyone that works with a WisGate Edge gateway has it easy, we value our partners as much as our clients. So we are making it available for them as well. Any of our partners will have the option to offer WisDM as a service themselves. The client will only need to mount their gateways on-site and all the management is going to be done remotely by a specialist partner.

Speaking of specialists now is the time to mention two of the main features of WisDM. Since we strive to provide the best support possible, we have implemented a direct communication channel inside the platform connecting it to Zendesk and our specialists. Create your ticket directly from the WisDM platform! Moreover, you can grant direct temporary access to your account to our support members to help you with your deployment and management issues. We value the privacy of our clients so by default we do not have access to any private account and whether to grant us access is all up to you. Even the duration of that access is in your hands and can be terminated anytime.

WisDM is the epitome of our motto “IoT made easy”, making your large-scale deployment a piece of cake!

All that is available right now in the beta version of WisDM! That means that it is not all, you could expect even more soon. Even now, our experts are working tirelessly on implementing even more useful features, to make your management experience as productive and easy as possible. Are you eager to hear about it? Here is a sneak peek at what is coming soon to the WisDM platform. Alongside the already implemented features mentioned above, we will add great additions like gateway performance monitoring, system lock, in-depth performance statistics, the option to reboot any gateway remotely, and the ability to share your templates with other users. Sounds good? Stay tuned!

Imagine a scenario: You want/need to make a LoRaWAN network for a project (a Smart City or even something bigger). You will need gateways all over the place to achieve the desired coverage. That means weeks on the road, installing and connecting the gateways one by one, all the time carrying around not only tools but a laptop as well. It is no one-man job, it sounds tiring just reading about it right? WisDM is the tool you need so you can avoid half of this hustle! Have your gateways preconfigured, just install them and do all the “nerd” work from one place. Updates, real-time status, configuration, and management of the Built-In Network Server, all done remotely, somewhere with an air-conditioning and a cold drink in hand. The responsive design makes WisDM compatible even with mobile devices, so you can have the control of your network in your pocket.

Managing your gateway fleet has never been easier. Embrace it with WisDM!