Bringing a smart appliance or an industrial sensor to market involves much more just assembling the hardware. Connected devices also require a server backend to handle management tasks such as diagnostics and patching, functionality that can be tremendously difficult to deliver on a large scale. As a result, manufacturers are recruiting the help of platform-as-a-service providers like Ayla Networks Inc., which raised $39 million in funding today to seize upon the growing demand for its technology.

The startup’s managed Agile IoT Platform provides a collection of automation features that can be applied to a wide variety of connected devices. The roster includes various security controls, a notification tool and a policy engine that can trigger certain actions in response to important events. A fitness band maker, for instance, could harness the service to send users mobile notifications when they reach personal milestones or need to recharge the battery. Meanwhile, a manufacturer of commercial ventilation systems might use it to implement a self-troubleshooting capability in its gear.

The functionality is complemented by a number of standard management modules for handling mundane tasks such as geotracking, managing user accounts and collecting diagnostics data. Device records collected using the Agile IoT platform can be exported to an external system for processing via an API, or parsed using its built-on log analytics tool. The software is designed to identify usability challenges and other design shortcomings that should be improved in future product iterations.

By removing the need for manufacturers to cobble together a device management backend from scratch, the Agile IoT Platform not only frees up resources but also helps improve service quality. The end result is that enterprises and consumers receive more reliable products with a lower likelihood of suffering from provider-side technical issues. Ayla says that the service is currently being used by Fujitsu Inc., Irish electronics giant Glen Dimplex and over a dozen other hardware makers, a list that the new funding should help considerably. The firm has raised a total of $64.4 million in outside capital to date.

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