We are in an age of digital transformation. Advanced technologies like IoT, digital twins, virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR) are revolutionizing all types of industries. As these technologies become more popular, many organizations turn to cloud computing to run their operations. But, choosing the right platform to provide the performance and speed you require can be a daunting task and the wrong choice could lead to project failure.
Your choice must ultimately lie in the projects you plan on working on. If the project is simple, like hosting HR systems, then almost any cloud provider will be enough. However, if you have a complex project you need to ensure that the cloud provider you choose has the power to handle the project.
The Top Cloud Providers
Many organizations turn to AWS and IBM as their top choices for cloud providers. Although we may be a little biased, we are a PTC reseller after all, we think you can do better using PTC ThingWorx. This revolutionary platform has the tools you need to improve efficiency and optimize performance in your manufacturing environment. If that’s not enough to sway you, keep reading, we break down all the details in this ThingWorx vs AWS IoT platform comparison.
IoT Platform Comparison: Feature Breakdown
IoT Commitment
PTC has been a leader in the manufacturing industry for over 30 years – giving ThingWorx a solid backbone required to handle most projects. In addition to this IoT platform, PTC is well known for their CAD, PLM, and other 3D design products. They were an early adopter of IoT and implemented many tools to support this technology ahead of their competitors. Given this background, ThingWorx was built to operate in an industrial environment and to support the wide range of needs required by engineers and product designers.
Amazon Web Services, better known as AWS, has only been a part of the Amazon platform since 2006. Obviously, Amazon has some serious know-how in the computing and retail markets, but the same can’t be said for product design and manufacturing. When AWS discusses IoT, they often talk in generalities or relate it exclusively to consumer products like cars and refrigerators. They also don’t have a lot, if any, examples of industrial customers using AWS IoT to run their critical operations.
Given PTCs extensive background in IoT and the manufacturing industry, ThingWorx wins this round, especially if you are looking for a product-centric platform that will support your product design and manufacturing processes.
Developer Tools
AWS has a range of tools that are designed to assist developers across a range of industries. If you have the time to learn how to complete your projects using a general tool, then AWS is a great platform to get started with.
If you would prefer to use a tool that is designed for your specific environment, then ThingWorx is a better option. The platform includes tools for REST APIs, data model design, and IoT apps and connections, which are all important for product-centric companies. Each component has been designed to improve and streamline manufacturing and product design.
ThingWorx’s developer tools has been specifically designed to streamline manufacturing and design processes.
Analytics
AWS and ThingWorx both include built-in analytics. AWS has metrics that focus on general business analytics as well as more specific IT-centric and big data solutions. However, when they discuss business metrics they stick with traditional metrics used by HR, marketing, finance, and sales. They don’t seem to have metrics surrounding new product introduction and IoT like: MVP, OEE, productivity, efficiency, utilization, SPC, predictive maintenance, or other project management statistics that are considered critical to the industry.
In contrast, ThingWorx focuses more on these critical industry metrics. They even provide tutorials to help you understand how to set up and utilize predictive analytics, operationalizing an analytics model, monitoring devices, and creating alerts. This additional insight is intended to help companies handle all types of operational issues effectively.
ThingWorx utilizes critical IoT industry metrics including productivity, efficiency, utilization and more to provide companies with practical insight so they effectively solve problems.
Industry Expertise
There is no question that both companies each have their strengths when it comes to their respective industries. ThingWorx maintains a stronger focus on product-centered industrial companies whereas AWS is more of a general platform particularly useful for general developer knowledge. If you need support for a VR or IoT project, then ThingWorx will be the better option.
ThingWorx is the superior solution for industrial and product-centered companies.
AR and VR Tools
ThingWorx and AWS both have expertise in these areas – so what you want to pick truly depends on application. AWS focuses on consumer products while ThingWorx is a better solution for more complex industrial projects.
ThingWorx and AWS both have AR and VR tools – it depends on what you want your product to be used for.
Education and Support
Both companies provide plenty of resources to help users navigate their products. Like some of the other features – it all depends on what types of projects you are working on. ThingWorx has a deeper focus on industrial problems and operations than AWS. Therefore, if that is your industry focus it may be easier to find the answers you need using the available ThingWorx education and support.
If you are focused on industrial products, ThingWorx is more likely to have the materials you need.
Thingworx vs AWS – No, ThingWorx with AWS
When is comes down to our IoT platform comparison, who is the winner? It’s a trick question – the truth is you don’t have to make a choice. You can choose to use ThingWorx for the industry expertise and then utilize AWS for your cloud platform as a complementary solution.
However, we understand that due to budgetary constraints, selecting two solutions might not be an option. If that’s the case, and you are in the industrial, manufacturing, or product-centered industries then we think that ThingWorx will provide more value for your investment.
If you want to learn more about ThingWorx or are looking for pricing information, contact us.