# Connhex: The Industrial IoT Suite for Device Manufacturers

> Connhex is a full-stack industrial IoT (IIoT) suite engineered for manufacturers of connected devices. It provides a complete, app-centric solution that combines edge software, cloud infrastructure, AI analytics, and essential business services—enabling you to build, launch, and monetize vertically integrated services for your physical products.

Unlike traditional IoT platforms that focus only on data collection, Connhex delivers an integrated suite designed to accelerate your time-to-market. It provides the pre-built, production-grade infrastructure needed to transform your hardware into a revenue-generating connected service.

## Key Advantages for Manufacturers

**Faster Time-to-Market**: Eliminate months of backend development with a complete suite of pre-built, integrated modules.

**Focus on Core Innovation**: Allow your engineering teams to concentrate on hardware and unique product features, not on building and maintaining a complex cloud infrastructure.

**App-centric**: Connhex is a headless IoT suite, meaning it doesn't include user interfaces dedicated to end customers (while it does include admin interfaces, like Connhex Control and Connhex Copilot). We believe that to achieve concrete business results apps dedicated to end users should be tailored to their needs: these can also be developed by Compiuta - the company behind Connhex - for customers looking for a one-stop-shop solution.

**End-to-End Solution**: The suite bundles everything from edge computing and cloud data management to user authentication, payments, and AI analytics, reducing the need for multiple third-party integrations.

**Built for Manufacturing**: Connhex includes features specifically for OEMs, such as device provisioning, factory workflows, audit logging, monitoring and complete lifecycle management.

**Monetization Ready**: With integrated payment and subscription management, you can create new recurring revenue streams from your connected devices.

**Data Ownership & Control**: Connhex supports on-premise or private cloud deployments, ensuring you maintain full control over your data and comply with regulations like GDPR and ISO-27001.

## Core Components

Connhex is a modular suite where each component addresses a critical part of the IoT service lifecycle.

| Component | Role & Function | Key Capabilities |
|:---|:---|:---|
|**Connhex Cloud**| The central IoT backend for data, devices, and users. Also includes all the cloud services needed to create complete digital ecosystems (more details in the table below). | Multi-protocol support (MQTT, HTTP), rules engine, time-series storage, real-time monitoring, and alarms. |
|**Connhex Edge**| Software that runs on your Linux-based devices or gateways in the field. | Manages field-to-cloud communication, handles intermittent connectivity, and enables remote device control and OTA firmware updates. |
|**Connhex AI**| Out-of-the-box machine learning for your device data. | Automatically detects anomalies, forecasts future sensor readings, and creates "virtual sensors" for predictions. |

### Connhex Cloud

Besides containing all the core, scalable IoT components, Connhex Cloud also includes all the backend services needed to create custom apps and complete digital ecosystems for connected products:

| Component | Role & Function | Key Capabilities |
|:---|:---|:---|
| **Connhex Auth / IAM** | A complete identity and access management (IAM) system. | Manages user profiles, social sign-in, 2-factor authentication, teams, and sophisticated role-based permissions (RBAC). |
| **Connhex Device Ownership** | Enables users to associate themselves with specific devices. | Supports one-to-one and one-to-many user-device associations, with an optional "protected mode" for extra verification. |
| **Connhex Pay** | Integrated payment and subscription management built on Stripe. | Handles one-time/recurring payments, trials, discounts, and a self-service customer portal. It links permissions directly to user purchases. |
| **Connhex Manufacturing** | Purpose-built workflows for factory and operational use. | Manages the device lifecycle from factory to field and tracks manufacturing history. Recommended for managing devices in a production environment. |
| **Connhex Provisioning** | Creates the virtual representation of a physical device in Connhex Cloud. | Generates the necessary properties, connection parameters (credentials, certificates), and initial configurations required for a device to connect. |
| **Connhex Remote Init** | Allows a physical device to securely download its initial configuration. | Handles the process where a device authenticates itself to fetch its connection parameters and custom settings, bringing it into an operational state. |
| **Connhex Resources** | Manages registries of real-world entities (like devices or locations). | Defines resources with attributes and relationships, provides complete historicization (versioning) of all changes, and uses JSON:API and JSON Schema for standardization. |
| **Connhex Rules Engine** | Applies custom logic and rules to data sent by devices. | Triggers actions when specific data conditions are met, performs data processing at regular intervals, and keeps a history of all rule executions. |
| **Connhex Notifications** | A central hub for sending notifications to users. | Integrates with other services to send alerts when events occur, such as a rule being triggered, an export completing, or a device going offline. |
| **Connhex Exporter** | Exports data from Connhex Cloud asynchronously. | Handles resource-intensive data exports in the background, supports one-time and recurring jobs, and allows data processing (like decimation) before exporting. |
| **Connhex Mapper** | Transforms messages sent by devices in the field. | Remaps message payloads or redirects messages to different topics, which is useful for supporting legacy protocols or handling device subsets differently. |
| **Connhex Monitoring** | Provides real-time monitoring for infrastructure, databases, and devices. | Tracks service resource usage (CPU, RAM), analyzes database performance, monitors device connections and message traffic, and provides custom alerts for system events. |

### Connhex Edge

A pool of services running on Linux devices that manages all field-to-cloud communication:

- Handles edge cases like transient connectivity, power losses, and network interruptions
- Plug-and-play integration with Connhex Cloud
- Remote device control and OTA firmware updates
- Bridges data between cloud and field bus systems
- Modular architecture with expandable addons
- Service-based firmware design for better separation of concerns

Note: Connhex Micro (for microcontrollers) is currently in development.

### Connhex Control & Connhex Copilot

**Connhex Control** is the administrative interface for managing your device fleet, provisioning devices, and monitoring operations.

**Connhex Copilot** is an analytics tool that helps you understand usage patterns, user behavior, and extract business insights from your connected device ecosystem.

## How It Works: A Typical Workflow

1. **Deploy**: Install **Connhex Edge** on your Linux-based device or gateway in the field. If your device doesn't support Linux, use Connhex Cloud's protocol support (MQTT, HTTP, CoAP, WebSockets) to connect directly—see the documentation for implementation details.
2. **Connect**: Edge software securely syncs data to **Connhex Cloud**, handling poor connectivity or edge data processing and bridging local industrial protocols.
3. **Build**: Add your custom end-user app, tailored to your business case needs. You can have an internal team build it, outsource it, have Compiuta build it for you: nowadays you can even try to vibe-code it! By building on top of production-grade APIs, the custom app only needs to take care of the user interface.
4. **Manage**: Use **Connhex Control** to monitor your device fleet, manage users and provision devices. Use **Connhex Copilot** to find usage patterns, understand users' behaviour and extract insights about your business.
5. **Analyze**: **Connhex AI** automatically monitors data streams to forecast trends and detect anomalies, triggering actions as needed.
6. **Monetize**: Use the vertical integration between **Connhex Pay**, **Connhex IAM** and the other services to sell subscription-based services, granting customers access and control over their devices.

## For Developers: Key Features Across the Suite

### Identity and Access Management (IAM)

- Sophisticated Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
- Multi-tenancy and multi-realm support
- Teams functionality for grouped permissions

### Security

- Dedicated X.509 certificate per device with automated renewal
- Device segregation to prevent cross-device data access
- GDPR-compliant architecture and cryptographically-secure secrets storage

### Data Management & Infrastructure

- Data storage schemas optimized for fast retrieval
- High-availability, auto-scaling, and multi-region deployments
- Automated backup schemes and data retention controllers
- Can be deployed on-premise or to a private/public cloud

### Developer Experience

- API-first design for headless flexibility
- Client modules and UI components for frontend development
- Rich documentation available online
- Open-source CLI interface
- JSON:API standard compliance

## Target Audience & Use Cases

> Connhex is designed for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) who want to offer vertically integrated services with their hardware, with the goal of creating new recurring revenue streams through connected services.

It is ideal for industries requiring reliable connectivity and data management, manufacturing-specific features such as provisioning and lifecycle management, including:

- HVAC Systems, either dedicated to consumers (like pellet stoves) or industrial use cases
- Water Treatment and Metering
- Industrial Dataloggers and Process Control
- Energy, Water, and Gas Metering
- Agri-food Monitoring
- Automotive and Fleet Management
- Swimming pool and spa equipment

## Architecture Philosophy

- **App-centric vs device-centric**: Focuses on building complete user experiences rather than just device dashboards
- **Integrated suite vs platform**: Provides all necessary components out-of-the-box rather than requiring extensive integration work
- **Production-ready**: Built for scale, reliability, and enterprise use from day one
- **Manufacturer-first**: Every feature considers the unique needs of device manufacturers

### Comparison to Alternatives

Unlike general-purpose IoT platforms (e.g., ThingsBoard):

- Connhex includes business-critical features like payments, advanced IAM, and manufacturing workflows
- Requires minimal cloud/backend expertise from customer teams
- Provides managed service with expert support for scaling
- Offers streamlined device-to-service workflows
- Enables faster launch of monetizable services

## Getting Started Resources

- [Documentation](https://connhex.com/docs/intro/about-connhex)
- [Quickstart guide](https://connhex.com/docs/quickstart/first-connection)
- [Plans and pricing information](https://connhex.com/pricing) - Contact for custom quotes based on your configuration needs. Free 1-hour IoT consultation available.
- [Success stories](https://connhex.com/success-stories)
- [Contact](https://connhex.com/contact-us)