Smart Product Platform: Faster time-to- , and ROI

Why time-to-market is the deciding factor in today’s competitive landscape

Digital products and services rarely emerge from scratch. Behind every offering lies a network of identities, assets, data streams and integrations. Anyone who builds all of this from the ground up for every new project not only wastes time but also risks falling behind the market, whilst simultaneously bearing the typical risks of a new implementation – risks that would no longer arise with tried-and-tested components.

Meanwhile, demands are mounting from all sides: customers expect seamless digital experiences, regulatory authorities demand traceability and compliance, and business units want to test and roll out new use cases quickly. The traditional project approach of ‘let’s build everything ourselves first’ quickly reaches its limits here – time is money, and sooner or later every business case is underpinned by the question of return on investment (ROI).

The adesso Smart Product Platform (SPP) was developed to address precisely this problem. It provides a reusable core for digital solutions, thereby reducing the effort required for basic functions that are needed time and time again. Development teams no longer have to start from scratch – they can focus from the outset on what truly sets their business apart from the rest.

In this first part of our two-part series, we introduce the adesso Smart Product Platform as an accelerator for digital products and IoT applications. We show which core features accelerate projects from day one and how a well-thought-out platform approach supports the entire software lifecycle, from the initial idea through to operation. In the second part, we’ll get down to specifics: there, we’ll look at a real-world project in which this approach was implemented in collaboration with a client.

How the adesso Smart Product Platform accelerates business ideas to market

The adesso Smart Product Platform is not a ready-made, off-the-shelf product – it is a collection of tried-and-tested services that form the common core for a wide variety of digital products: from factory monitoring to vehicle tracking. Instead of building each solution as an isolated, stand-alone project , we use the SPP to establish a platform core on which various use cases can be realised.

The key difference compared to developing from scratch is that digital business models do not start from zero. The development teams draw on tried-and-tested, specialised services for identities, asset hierarchies, sensor data and device integrations – a core that adesso has distilled from numerous projects and made available as a platform standard. The result is an architecture in which new ideas can be realised more quickly without sacrificing quality or stability.

The adesso SPP also brings order to the background processes. It defines how data is structured, how access is regulated and how new services are integrated into the existing landscape. This not only has an impact at the outset, but also reduces the effort required for maintenance, further development and operation throughout the entire lifecycle.

Core features: The set that accelerates projects from day one

At the heart of the adesso Smart Product Platform lies a set of microservices that are required in almost every project. Providing these building blocks in a standardised way shifts the focus from infrastructure to actual value creation – and that is the idea behind the SPP.

Identity & Access: Users, roles and permissions under control

The User Service centrally manages users, custom roles and clients as an authorisation server for the entire platform, integrating seamlessly into customers’ existing identity landscapes.

Typical scenarios can thus be neatly mapped out:

Accounts with administrative privileges can configure settings across clients, whilst business users only access the applications and data relevant to them within their own client. External service partners are granted targeted, restricted access rights – for example, to specific functions or certain machines – without the need to set up new user management systems in individual systems.

Teams can also implement advanced scenarios such as multi-factor authentication or specific role models directly, without having to rebuild the identity infrastructure. Access control remains centralised, transparent and consistent across all solutions operated via the platform.

Asset Management: Digital representations of the real world with flexible hierarchies

The Asset Service models flexible hierarchies for factories, vehicle fleets, weather stations and any IoT objects. A factory can thus map its production lines, machines and components within a shared structure, whilst a logistics company can map its vehicle fleet with regional depots. The structures are tailored to business requirements and scale as new locations, product lines or service objects are added.

Each asset is an item comprising components that define named data points, such as status information, measured values or configuration parameters. The result is a consistent, reusable model of the real world that different applications on the platform can share, without each solution having to provide its own logic for objects and hierarchies.

The hierarchies also help to control access rights: technicians granted access to Machine 1 automatically see all associated sensors and data, without the need to manually set individual access permissions. This makes a end to the chaos of access permissions, and all departments work from a shared data base.

Events and data streams: real-time IoT data from the device to the dashboard

If a machine overheats or a vehicle reaches its destination, this must be visible immediately, not just in the next report.

The platform stores three types of information:

• Measurements: What is the device currently measuring? Time-stamped values such as temperature, speed or voltage.
• Alarms & events: What events have occurred? Warnings, faults or critical conditions, with priority levels and optional acknowledgement.
• Related data: Which processes have been fully recorded? Data sets such as journey logs, shifts or maintenance jobs, complete with all relevant contextual information.

All this data is captured in real time, automatically stored and immediately visible on the dashboard – no project needs to set up its own data storage for this. MQTT devices publish data using secure authentication. Specialised handlers consume the messages, transform the payloads and forward them to the time-series service. This prevents the creation of data silos; every value can be queried, archived and used for AI analysis.

APIs and integration: multi-protocol flexibility rather than a monoculture

Hardly any solution operates in isolation. It must interoperate with existing systems, partners and external services. The adesso SPP supports this right from the start:

Sensors, machines and devices from a wide variety of manufacturers can be connected out-of-the-box – whether via MQTT, proprietary protocols or custom formats. In practical terms, this means: no expensive custom development for every new type of device. The integration effort is thus significantly reduced.

In practical terms, this means that the same platform operates with a high degree of flexibility without compromise: in a factory project, it uses standard industrial sensors with MQTT; in a fleet project, it uses GPS/CAN devices with a proprietary protocol handler; and in smart home scenarios, it uses Tasmota devices.

Across all protocols, the central services are seamlessly integrated:

• 1. Asset Service: Retrieve item hierarchies, manage metadata
• 2. Time-Series Service: Store and retrieve measurement values
• 3. User Service: User management and access control across all services

Sovereignty and Governance: Maintaining control, utilising scope for manoeuvre

In addition to the visible functions, governance issues have been an integral part of the platform from the outset. The SPP is designed to enable organisations to comply with data sovereignty, compliance and security requirements – through client isolation, auditability, clear role models and the flexibility to operate across different infrastructures, including sovereign cloud environments. Innovation and control are therefore not mutually exclusive.

A real-world example: A manufacturing company with multiple factory sites uses the SPP to monitor all machines centrally, whilst each site retains full control over its data. Another company uses it to manage a fleet of more than 1,000 vehicles with live tracking, maintenance planning and utilisation analyses – all on a single platform rather than across three different systems as before.

Both customers use the SPP in very different ways – it is flexible enough for a wide variety of scenarios, yet standardised enough to get started quickly and rely on tried-and-tested solutions.

AI as an integrated platform feature: asking questions instead of writing SQL

With the AI chat, users can ask questions in natural language such as: “What was my fleet’s average fuel consumption in May?” or “Compare energy consumption per vehicle last week versus this week”.

There’s more to such a question than just a search. If you ask, “Compare fuel consumption per 100 km for all lorries in May versus April”, the following happens automatically in the background:

• Finds all vehicles in your fleet
• Loads the journey data for the two months
• Calculates the ratios
• Sorts by efficiency
• Provides you with the answer in natural language

The vectorised document search also allows you to ask questions about uploaded operating manuals, safety data sheets or service documentation. No SQL or database skills required – just a question in English or German.

From the factory to the fleet: concrete examples of use

A Smart Product Platform sounds abstract until you see it in real-world projects. That’s why we’re showcasing three typical use cases from different industries that the SPP already covers.

Smart Factory: Real-time monitoring of 50 production machines

A medium-sized factory with 50 production machines requires real-time monitoring. Before the SPP was introduced, each system had its own sensors, its own storage and no cross-system analytics.

With the adesso Smart Product Platform:

• Hierarchy in Asset Service: Factory > Production Line A > Machine 1 > Motor with measurement values (speed, temperature, vibration)
• IoT devices: publish 10+ million measurement values daily
• Time-Series Service: stores all values; Event Gateway pushes critical alerts live to the dashboard
• WebUI: displays real-time dashboards
• AI Chat: “Which 3 machines had the highest fault rates last week?” → AI combines item hierarchies + historical messages + severity levels → Enables rapid analysis

Result: From concept to a fully operational system in just a few weeks. Without SPP: several months.

Fleet management: 100 lorries with GPS and engine data

A logistics company manages 100 vehicles. It is not individual sensor readings that are of interest, but journey logs.

With the adesso Smart Product Platform:

• Asset hierarchy: Company > Fleet > Region > Lorries equipped with gateways
• Collections instead of data points: Instead of individual values, the Time-Series Service stores journey logs (start time, end time, distance in km, fuel consumption in litres, CO₂ emissions)
• AI Chat: “Compare fuel consumption per 100 km for all lorries in May vs. April → AI searches all collections, calculates ratios, sorts by efficiency
• Live Dashboard: Dashboards display fleet KPIs in real time

Result: Data chaos is transformed into a clear, real-time overview. Fleet managers can use this to make better decisions.

IoT weather stations: 500 Tasmota-based sensors

A weather service operates 500 decentralised weather stations using cost-effective Tasmota firmware. Before SPP: each device sent data to its own server; there was no integration.

With the adesso Smart Product Platform:

• Asset Service: Map overview showing the locations of the weather stations
• DataPoints: temperature, humidity, pressure, solar_radiation
• AI Chat: “Which 10 regions have the highest average temperature today?” → instant reply

Result: 500 autonomous devices, centralised control, no custom integrations.

Time-to-market considered across the entire lifecycle

Time-to-market isn’t just a factor at the initial go-live. The real test comes when requirements change, new products are added, the system needs to scale, or interfaces need to be adapted. It is at this stage, at the very latest, that it becomes clear whether a system is truly agile or whether every change turns into a major project.

The adesso Smart Product Platform is designed precisely for this lifecycle. It speeds up the launch because core functions are already in place. Teams can focus on the use case rather than building basic technologies. Proof of concept, MVP and the first production-ready version are delivered significantly faster, yet still on a solid foundation.

The platform also pays dividends during ongoing operations. The core is continuously maintained, updated and expanded by adesso – security updates, performance optimisations and new generic features are integrated directly into the platform core. All solutions built on top of it benefit from this, without each project having to tie up its own development capacity for this purpose.

Maintaining and extending specialised business logic is also easier: new use cases can be built on top of existing data models, identities and integration paths. Rather than ‘ ’ ‘rebuilding’ from scratch, the approach is often one of ‘configuring and supplementing’. This shortens release cycles, reduces the risks associated with changes and creates scope to react more quickly to market trends or regulatory requirements.

Ultimately, the focus shifts to time-to-market: it is not just about how quickly the first version goes live, but how quickly a product can be further developed over the years. That is the strategic value of the adesso Smart Product Platform.

Make-or-Buy redefined: buy the platform, build differentiation

The classic ‘make-or-buy’ question arises time and again in digital projects: do we develop everything ourselves, or do we use off-the-shelf products from the market? In many cases, this has previously led to an either-or decision. Either full control and in-house development, with the associated effort, or a quick, ready-made solution with limited flexibility.

With the adesso Smart Product Platform, we are opening up a third way: our customers receive the functions required in almost every software project as a reusable foundation: user management, asset hierarchies, real-time data, device connections. This saves time and resources.

The freedom to build independently is retained precisely where the business is unique: in the business processes, in product design, and in user interaction.

The real question thus shifts from ‘What do we need to develop ourselves?’ to ‘Where do we create real added value?’. Development resources are not channelled into infrastructure components that are difficult to differentiate, but into what makes the offering stand out in the market. adesso brings together platform expertise and industry know-how to help draw this line deliberately.

‘Make-or-buy’ thus becomes a question of smart task allocation: the platform ensures that the essentials are handled competently and reliably. Companies themselves shape the extras quickly, with focus and on a foundation that allows for growth.

Tech stack: Proven standards for scalability and independence

Technologically, the SPP relies on tried-and-tested, widely adopted standards. The reason is pragmatic:

• Strong community: When questions arise, solutions are available
• Security: Regular updates and bug fixes
• Scalability: From 100 sensors to 100 million without a rewrite
• •ndependence: No vendor lock-in, open standards

These standards are complemented by specialised components for:

• Asset management with flexible, hierarchical structures
• Real-time data collection and storage
• AI-powered search for your knowledge
• Cloud scalability – whether public cloud, private cloud or hybrid

Stateless microservices enable horizontal scaling; each service runs independently and communicates via standardised interfaces. This means that SPP grows in line with your requirements.

Outlook: From platform concept to concrete project

As an architectural concept, a Smart Product Platform is easy to outline. Its true value only becomes apparent in practice: how quickly can new services be set up? How seamlessly do they integrate into existing environments? And how effectively do they support the entire lifecycle of a solution, from the initial idea through to rollout and ongoing operation?