IoT & Connectivity Tips

    April 22, 2025   Hello ThingWorx community members! We are excited to announce the preview release of ThingWorx 10.0, the latest evolution of our IIoT platform for all your Industrial Data Management needs. This release focuses on delivering a powerful, secure, and intelligent foundation for industrial innovation, empowering businesses to achieve more with their IoT solutions. Powerful & Secure: A New Standard in IoT Platforms ThingWorx 10.0 sets a new benchmark for scalability and security in IoT with features like IOT Streams to enhance enterprise industrial data acccess and reliability, caching improvements to increase server scale and response times, and security updates for TLS, Tomcat, Java, and others to ensure top-tier performance and protection. These advancements make ThingWorx 10.0 the most mature and secure platform yet, giving businesses the confidence to scale their IoT deployments while safeguarding their data.   Industrial Solutions: Ready to Drive Performance ThingWorx 10.0 enhances our industrial solutions, advancing connected worker, manufacturing efficiency, and quality use cases. Windchill Navigate View Work Instructions, a powerful, feature-rich app, launches with ThingWorx 10.0. Built on ThingWorx and integrated with Windchill PLM, this task-based solution delivers real-time work instructions, enhancing enterprise collaboration and boosting worker productivity with seamless, intuitive guidance. Alongside Connected Work Cell (CWC), both applications strengthen the connected worker experience in manufacturing with real-time instructions and data. Additionally, enhancements to Real-Time Production Performance Monitoring (RTPPM), and Digital Performance Management (DPM), improve manufacturing performance by optimizing workflows, enhancing service quality, and providing operators with clear, data-driven insights. Data Insights: Unlocking Intelligence from Edge to Cloud ThingWorx 10.0 empowers businesses to harness data-driven intelligence like never before. With advanced analytics and integration with third-party generative AI tools, the platform enables seamless management of industrial data from edge to cloud. Unlock actionable insights and make smarter decisions to stay ahead in a competitive landscape. Get started today The preview release of ThingWorx 10.0 is now available for evaluation. Discover how a powerful, secure, and intelligent IoT platform can transform your industrial operations. Please reach out to your account reps or customer success team to get preview access for this release. Alternatively, drop a comment on this post or submit a Tech Support ticket, and we’ll get in touch with you to discuss onboarding to the ThingWorx 10.0 Private Preview Program.   Lastly watch out this space as we roll out additional details about ThingWorx 10.0 release and other announcements!   Cheers! Ayush Tiwari Director Product Management ThingWorx, a PTC Technology.

ThingWorx 10.1: Practical Tools to Power Your Industrial IoT and AI Hello ThingWorx Community! Thanks for the warm response to ThingWorx 10.0 and all your feedback, it’s been invaluable!! I’m excited to share what’s coming with ThingWorx 10.1, rolling out private preview this fall. We’ve focused on delivering practical updates to help you get more from your IoT investments, with new AI capabilities, stronger solutions, and tools to make developers’ lives easier. Here’s what’s new: Industrial AI That Works for You We’re doubling down on AI to make your operations smarter and faster ThingWorx AI assistant powered by Industrial AI Agents: Our private preview of AI agents lets you embed chat assistants directly into your mashup applications. These agents tap into ThingWorx’s contextualized IoT data, enabling quicker, data-driven decisions without complex setups. Model Context Protocol Support: MCP support with ThingWorx allows you to run centralized agents on a hub ThingWorx server, pulling data from connected systems or spoke ThingWorx instances, streamlining agentic AI automation across your operations. While there are several benefits to MCP, one of the top use cases is achieving enterprise-wide KPI calculations using agents and Large Language Models (LLMs). ThingWorx’s low-code platform makes it quick and easy to start your AI automation journey. MQTT Egress for IoT Streams: Building on IoT streams from 10.0, we’re introducing preview support for MQTT-based egress in formats like Sparkplug B. This helps you manage industrial data end-to-end and aligns with your Unified Namespace strategy for seamless interoperability. ThingWorx AI Accelerator V2: Now with predictive capabilities, this tool connects your LLMs to private data, letting you build tailored AI assistants for predictive and interactive experiences—at no cost. Check out the post here for details: https://community.ptc.com/t5/ThingWorx-Developers/Using-an-LLM-with-ThingWorx-Latest-Version-V2-Update/td-p/1038099 Solutions Built for the Factory Floor Our out-of-the-box applications have become more powerful to tackle real-world challenges: Real-Time Production Performance Monitoring (RTPPM) Application: A revamped event model powering the KPI calculations and UI-based configuration make it reliable and easier to set up and use. It delivers accurate, real-time factory performance data to keep your shop floor running smoothly. Asset Monitoring and Utilization (AMU): For high-scale environments, this application now supports up to 1800% better performance, handling massive data ingestion from connected machines with ease. Digital Performance Management (DPM) & Connected Work Cell (CWC): We’ve also made several targeted fixes and improvements to boost manufacturing efficiency and worker productivity. Common Building Blocks (BBs): With our commitment to Building Blocks strategy, we’re rolling making common BB’s (e.g., PTC.Base, PTC.DBConnection, PTC.ModelManagement, PTC.UserManagement) available to all users, including Windchill Navigate and non-SCO customers. Previously exclusive to SCO licenses, these pre-built components simplify app development, speed up time to value, and streamline app management. Empowering Developers We know developer experience is critical, so we’ve added tools to streamline your work: JavaScript Debugger (GA): Now available with 10.1, it offers debugging from Thing Templates, JSON and infotable display, expression editing, improved layouts, keyboard shortcuts, a dedicated debugging subsystem and more!! Developer Productivity Enhancements: The new Rich Text Widget lets you embed a custom rich text editor to create sophisticated user interfaces, (for e.g., mimicking those in Windchill). It has controls to allow users to format text and lists, enable undo and redo, allow file uploads, add dividers and more. Collection widget enhancements also enable effortless drag-and-drop reordering of collection cells. Concurrency fixes for user and organization management improve the reliability of ThingWorx solutions. Security Updates: Updated libraries and tech stack enhance security and performance. For regulated industries, we’ve updated OpenSSL support for Axeda Edge and C-SDK, ensuring FIPS 140-3 compliance to meet strict standards. Join the Private Preview We’re opening the private preview for features like AI agents, Model Context Protocol, MQTT egress, and updated RTPPM capabilities. Interested? Leave a comment below, and we’ll reach out with next steps to get you started. Not ready for the preview? Start planning your upgrade to the ThingWorx 10.1 GA release this winter to take advantage of these features in production. Thanks for being part of the ThingWorx journey. Let’s keep building smarter industrial solutions together! Cheers, Ayush Tiwari, Director of Product Management, ThingWorx

ThingWorx community,   As part of a continuous re-evaluation of our third-party software requirements, we regularly add and remove support for versions of operating systems, persistence providers, and web browsers.   On this note, we are planning to end support for Ubuntu 18.04 beginning with the ThingWorx release targeted for mid-CY2022. Per its release cycle, Ubuntu will move version 18.04 into Extended Security Maintenance at this point, meaning it will no longer receive regular maintenance updates.   PTC will continue to support Ubuntu 20.04 for the immediate future and will consider supporting Ubuntu 22.04 once it becomes Generally Available (GA).   Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.   Regards,   Walter Haydock ThingWorx Product Management

ThingWorx community,   As part of a continuous re-evaluation of our third-party software requirements, we regularly add and remove support for versions of operating systems, persistence providers, and web browsers.   On this note, for the ThingWorx release after 9.2 (currently targeted for the end of CY 2021), we are planning to end support for Windows Server 2016. Already five years old, this product has generally been replaced by Windows Server 2019 in common usage.   As per Microsoft’s published lifecycle, this version will be going out of "Mainstream Support" approximately one year after the aforementioned ThingWorx release. PTC will continue to support Windows Server 2019 for the immediate future, and will consider supporting Windows Server 2022 once it becomes Generally Available (GA).   Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.   Regards,   Walter Haydock ThingWorx Product Management

We are bringing the Liveworx UX Lab to you this year! Contribute to the design and development of PTC’s IoT & AR products from the comfort of your home.   Participate in online 1:1 session with PTC Researchers and Designers to take our prototypes & conceptual designs for a spin, share your expertise to directly impact the experience of our future products.   For all Liveworx 2020 UX Lab sessions, click here   IoT & AR session links: SOLUTION CENTRAL: User Management SOLUTION CENTRAL: PTC Solution Deployment SERVICE: Remote Monitoring Solution THINGWORX: Managing Building Blocks in Composer THINGWORX KEPWARE EDGE: Container Based Software at Scale EDGE: Next Generation IoT Edge (Asset) Manager THINGWORX: Asset Modeling DIGITAL PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION: Bottleneck ID & Balanced Scorecard MANUFACTURING: PTC Solution Strategy using Building Blocks IMPLEMENTING AR and IOT: Successes and Difficulties VUFORIA EDITOR: Authoring Work Instructions VUFORIA EDITOR: Authoring Work Containing Augmented Reality

Greetings, Community Members! PTC has launched ThingWorx 9.6.0 as of June, and it's now ready for your upgrade! Let's explore the key enhancements in this latest version of ThingWorx.   What are the top three areas of updates in ThingWorx 9.6?   Performance, Scalability, Reliability, and Security: There's a significant boost in file transfer performance between connected devices and the ThingWorx platform. A notable enhancement in server startup performance, with some instances showing an 84% reduction in startup time. Numerous logging improvements, including limitations on log verbosity, log filtration, and configurable log storage capabilities, contribute to the stabilization of the ThingWorx system. Additionally, ThingWorx now supports log extraction to third-party software like Sumologic, Datadog, Splunk, Grafana, etc., utilizing the industry-standard OpenTelemetry framework starting from TWX 9.6. Content Security Policy has been implemented, fortifying ThingWorx against script and data injection attacks, man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks, and clickjacking. Several tech stack updates in 9.6; support now available for Azure B2C and TLS 1.3 (limited)   Developer Productivity: Introducing a new Collection widget with improved performance, enabling a transition away from the legacy Collection and Repeater widgets. Several other new widgets such as KPI dial widget, Tree selector widget, Progress Tracker widget and other critical enhancements for ThingWorx WebComponents are now available Support for viewing mashup configurations such as layouts, bindings, and widget properties in a read-only mode, helping improve user experience by allowing multiple users to review mashup designs simultaneously without making edits.   Solutions updates: Streamlined continuous improvement with the ability to View and Create Actions in One-Click from performance analysis screens for the Digital Performance Management (DPM) solution. Enhanced performance for the Asset Monitoring & Utilization (AMU) solution, with alarm events creation now handled asynchronously. Several fixes and improvements for Connected Work Cell (CWC), Real-Time Production Performance Monitoring (RTPPM), and DPM such as limits evaluation, messages not displayed, incorrectly calculated KPIs and issues with Running Time on the operator display and more, helping customers achieve continuous improvements in their manufacturing operations   View release notes here and be sure to upgrade to 9.6!   Dilanur Bayraktar ThingWorx Product Management

As of Dec. 23, 2021, ThingWorx 9.3.0 is available for download and on Jan. 7, 2022, it will be available for Cloud Services.   What’s new in ThingWorx 9.3? Composer and Mashup Builder  Enhanced ability to find entities, code references, and project dependencies with a new Referenced by report feature. New Grid widget allows for improved visualization of row/columnar type data, with improved performance, styling, and configuration experiences.  Composer enhancements allow for faster configuration and application management in the areas of test execution and dynamic use of Master Mashups.    Analytics  New configuration parameters (binningStrategy and allowOverlap) available for profiles to tailor application of the algorithm to meet needs of domain use cases.  New option to utilize K-Fold cross validation to improve quality of predictive models created on limited data sets using industry standard technique.  Automate treatment of missing values to reduce data preparation before application of advanced analytics algorithms.    Foundation  Query performance improvements with indexing enables performance of quick “search” queries across thousands of connected assets and pre-filtering of query resultsets for better overall query performance.  Upgrade script improvements for logging, script execution and error handling which simplify the upgrade process.    Remote Access and Control  Improvements to Remote Access and Control includes Auto & Click to Launch capabilities that streamline the remote access startup process by starting the support application you need for you. New connectivity options enable user control and selection of local IP and Port addresses used in the session creation.    Software Content Management  Instructions can now be configured to execute either Synchronously or Asynchronously for a streamlined execution process. Added support for data migration of older, from the audit data table information into a format to the new audit database.    View release notes here and be sure to upgrade to 9.3!   Stay Connected, Rachel

Hello community,   I'm happy to announce that I released GitBackup Extension 4.1.0 with some nice help from the community (special thanks to Tanguy Parmentier who provided all the localization export functionality). Many thanks for the people who provided feedback allowing this features to be prioritized.   Version 4.1.0 brings several new features to the table: (Finally) Allows the user to specify a subset of Entities for Export Allows importing a single Entity from the Workspace, so it’s easier now to checkout a specific commit in the past and import that file version for testing. Adds the capability to Export localization tokens filtered by a specific prefix - overridable by you at export time. Adds a Log screen that contains log entries for some of the most used methods that caused silent fails. Closed remote branches are auto-pruned. Further cleans the ThingWorx XML source files, by removing the ModelPersistenceProviderPackage. The Main Mashup UI is slightly redesigned: there's a new Manage tab which holds the Settings, Delete Git Thing and more. The Export Mashup UX is improved: export buttons are no longer visible if you don't select a project. Supports ThingWorx 9.0 Two separate releases: one for 8.4&8.5 and one for 9.0 The documentation was updated and I suggest further reading the release notes and specifically the ones regarding the new Log and prune capabilities. In addition, the mechanism that cleans the source code is extensible, and most of the entities are editable, allowing you to tweak it to your own usecase.   The Extesion source code is available here: https://github.com/PTCInc/thingworx-gitbackup-extension The importable Extension zip files are available here: https://github.com/PTCInc/thingworx-gitbackup-extension/releases   Special note for people using ThingWorx 9.0: in this version some internal ThingWorx SDK Java methods changed their signature, and this required me to build a special releases for 9.0. The extension I built for 9.0 won't run correctly in 8.4/8.5 and also the reverse. As such, you will always see two releases for each GitBackup version: one for 9.0 and one for the 8.4/8.5. My ask for you is the following: don't click on the latest release Github shows - that will always send you to the latest release, which might not be compatible with the ThingWorx version you are using always use the link above to choose the Extension compatible with your ThingWorx version read carefully which release you download. The title contains the ThingWorx version compatible with that release.   This Extension is licensed under the MIT Licence and is provided as-is and without warranty or support. It is not part of the PTC product suite.   Taking into consideration the statement above: please read first the documentation if you encounter any problems, search first for closed issues, and if none is found for your problem, raise a new issue in GitHub's issue system: https://github.com/PTCInc/thingworx-gitbackup-extension/issues do not open PTC Tech Support tickets for this Extension   For OOTB Git support in the ThingWorx platform, please raise a ThingWorx Idea in the PTC Community here https://community.ptc.com/t5/ThingWorx-Ideas/idb-p/thingworxideas   Thank you!

  The latest release of ThingWorx, version 9.7, brings powerful updates across performance, scalability, security, and developer productivity. Designed to meet the evolving demands of IoT and AR solutions, this version equips businesses with the tools to build smarter applications, improve operational efficiency, and stay ahead of the curve.   Performance & Scalability ThingWorx 9.7 introduces key updates that enhance performance and scalability for large-scale operations. The addition of partitioned value streams enables faster queries and purging of massive data sets, streamlining data management. Lazy loading for grid components optimizes application responsiveness, ensuring a seamless user experience, even in data-intensive environments. Additionally, the new Data Ordering feature ensures that ingested data is processed in the exact order it is received, even across asynchronous systems. This capability guarantees accurate execution of application logic and precise end calculations, addressing critical needs in industries requiring serialized data processing.   Reliability Enhancements Reliability is critical in enterprise applications, and ThingWorx 9.7 delivers with automated disaster recovery, providing quick failover mechanisms for deployments on the PTC Cloud. Enhanced diagnostics and tools for high-availability environments address challenges such as large cache collections, helping maintain stability and preventing bottlenecks in mission-critical systems.   Developer Productivity ThingWorx 9.7 offers developers a range of productivity-boosting features. The Mashup Builder enhancements include binding filtering, container zooming, and intuitive design tools that make application development faster and more efficient. Grid customizations, like inline editing and bulk selection, further streamline workflows. Developers also benefit from the latest Eclipse plugin, ensuring compatibility with modern tools and technologies.   Security & Compliance Security continues to be our highest priority in this release. ThingWorx 9.7 fully supports Java 21, delivering enhanced memory management and access to the latest security patches. TLS 1.3 Phase-2 integration brings advanced encryption protocols to secure communication across platforms. Additional security measures, such as granular file permissions, give administrators more control over sensitive data and operations.   Industry-Specific Solutions ThingWorx 9.7 introduces several innovative features tailored for specific industries: Route Versioning in Connected Work Cells: Manufacturers can now revise and track work cell routes with precision, creating complete traceability for serial numbers, routes, and associated work instructions. This feature streamlines workflows, enhances traceability, and boosts operational efficiency. Enhanced Operational Insights: The release includes new key performance indicators (KPIs) and reporting tools to deliver actionable insights at the factory line, site, and enterprise levels. These updates help organizations measure efficiency, reduce downtime, and improve overall productivity. Asset Muting for Chatty Devices: In scenarios where connected devices become overly chatty—sending excessive or unnecessary data—administrators can now mute these assets. This prevents data overload and mitigates risks such as distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, optimizing platform performance and ensuring uninterrupted operations. Improved Deployment Reliability: Enhancements in software content management ensure reliable and scalable management of large-scale deployments, reducing downtime and improving device performance.   Third-Party Library Upgrades ThingWorx 9.7 includes key updates to its underlying technology stack, ensuring compatibility with modern enterprise systems, improved performance, and robust security. To stay future-ready, we have updated its core technology stack, including Tomcat 9.0.95, Ignite 2.16 and RabbitMQ 3.13.7 to highlight few.   Why Upgrade to ThingWorx 9.7? ThingWorx 9.7 sets a new benchmark for IoT platforms, offering enhanced scalability, state-of-the-art security, and intuitive tools for developers. The updates cater to both enterprise-scale deployments and industry-specific challenges, ensuring that businesses can innovate and operate with confidence in an increasingly complex digital landscape.   Upgrade to ThingWorx 9.7 today and unlock new possibilities for innovation and success! View release notes here for more details on exact updates and be sure to upgrade to 9.7! Vineet Khokhar Principal Product Manager- IOT Security  

In the evolving landscape of software development, ensuring support for the latest, most secure versions of programming languages is essential. At PTC, we continuously evaluate our technology stack, and Java is no exception. As part of our ongoing commitment to providing secure and high-performing products, we’re announcing some important updates to the Java support plans for ThingWorx.   Current Java Support in ThingWorx (Through Version v9.1.X - v9.6.X)   As of ThingWorx v9.6, Java 11 is the only supported version. This version has been a mainstay of our IoT platform, ensuring stability and performance across various use cases. However, Java 11 entered Extended Support in September 2023, meaning its standard support phase has ended. While this version will continue to receive security updates for a while, its lifecycle is winding down.   Introducing Java 21 Support in ThingWorx v9.7 (Planned Release: December 2024)   With ThingWorx 9.7, releasing in December 2024, we will introduce support for Java 21, the next Long-Term Support (LTS) version of Java. This upgrade brings key benefits, including improved performance, enhanced garbage collection, and increased security, ensuring that ThingWorx remains optimized for enterprise-scale IoT deployments. (More details: The Arrival Of JAVA 21) Given the diversity of our customer base, we know that some are still using Java 11, while others are ready to move to Java 21. ThingWorx 9.7 will support both versions, allowing customers the flexibility to upgrade to the latest ThingWorx version while preparing their environments for Java 21.   The Road to Java 21-Only: What to Expect in ThingWorx v10.0 (Planned Release: June 2025)   As we assess the adoption of Java 21 following the ThingWorx 9.7 release, our goal is to phase out support for Java 11 with ThingWorx 10.0, scheduled for release in June 2025. Starting with ThingWorx 10, Java 21 will be the only supported version, marking the end of Java 11 support for the core platform.   This is driven by the need to stay aligned with modern standards and best practices, including support for third-party technologies such as Tomcat v10 and Spring Framework v6, which require latest Java versions. These updates will ensure that ThingWorx continues to benefit from the latest advancements in the Java ecosystem. Next steps for ThingWorx users   As we approach the release of ThingWorx 9.7, we encourage customers to begin planning for the move to Java 21. While ThingWorx 9.7 will support both Java 11 and Java 21, we recommend upgrading to Java 21 to take full advantage of the enhancements it offers. For more detailed information on overall third party support, do check Release Advisor Vineet Khokhar Principal Product Manager, IoT Security   Stay tuned for more updates as we approach the release of ThingWorx v9.7, and as always, in case of issues, feel free to reach out to <support.ptc.com>  This post on ThingWorxTM status & roadmap is a preliminary version and not subject to your license agreement or any other agreement with ThingWorx. This post contains intended strategies, developments, and functionalities of the ThingWorxTM product. The information is furnished for information use only and is not intended to be binding upon ThingWorx to any particular course of business, product strategy, and/or development. Please note that this document is subject to change and may be changed by ThingWorx at any time without notice; accordingly, you should not rely on this data for production or purchasing decisions. ThingWorx assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions in this document.

PTC was recognized an outright leader in the global IoT market.

As of May 24, 2023, ThingWorx 9.4.0 is available for download!  Here are some of the highlights from the recent ThingWorx release.   What’s new in ThingWorx 9.4? Composer and Mashup Builder  New Combo chart and Pie chart based on modern Web Components architecture along with several other widget enhancements such as Grid toolbar improvements for custom actions, highlighting newly added rows for Grid widget and others Ability to style the focus on each widget when they are selected to get specific styling for different components Absolute positioning option with a beta flag to use by default is available now Several other Mashup improvements, such as Export function support is made available; improved migration dialogue (backported to 9.3 as well) to allow customers to move to new widgets; and legacy widgets language changes   Foundation  Heavily subscribed events could now be distributed across the ThingWorx HA cluster nodes to be scaled horizontally for better performance and processing of ThingWorx subscriptions. Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flex Server GA support with ThingWorx 9.4.1 for customers deploying ThingWorx Foundation on their own Azure Cloud infrastructure Improved ThingWorx APIs for InfluxDB to avoid Data loss at a high scale with additional monitoring metrics in place for guardrails Several security fixes and key third-party stack updates   Remote Access and Control (RAC) Remote Service Edge Extension (RSEE) for C-SDK, currently under Preview and planned to be Generally Available (GA) by Sept 2023, would allow ThingWorx admins to use Remote Access and Control with the C-SDK based connected devices to use Global Access Server (GAS) for a stable, secure, and large number of remote sessions With 9.4, a self-signed certificate or certificate generated by the trusted certificate authority can be used for RAC with the ThingWorx platform Ability to use parameter substitution to update Auto Launch commands dynamically based on data from the ThingWorx platform is now available   Software Content Management  Support for 100k+ assets with redesigned and improved performance on Asset Search Better control over package deployment with redesigned package tracking, filtering, and management Improved overall SCM stability, performance, and scalability and a more user-friendly and intuitive experience   Analytics  Improvements to the scalability of property transforms to enable stream processing of the larger number of properties within a ThingWorx installation Refactoring of Analytics Builder UI to use updated widgets and align with the PTC design system Updates to underlying libraries to enable the creation and scoring of predictive models in the latest version of PMML (v4.4) End of Support for Analytics Manager .NET Agent SDK     View release notes here and be sure to upgrade to 9.4!     Cheers, Ayush Tiwari Director, Product Management, ThingWorx      

  ThingWorx Dev Portal users,    As you may have heard in prior communication, the ThingWorx Dev Portal  Developer Portal | Developer Portal : ThingWorx is being retired.         All ThingWorx Dev Portal content will remain accessible until September 28, 2022. Your favorite and the most useful ThingWorx Dev Portal content will be copied into the PTC Community  in our IoT Tips board.  The Community Team is in the process of making changes to all our “Community Tips” boards.        Subscribe and watch for an official announcement on our Community Announcements board about the change. The Community Tips Board changes go into effect on September 1st.  You can preview the ThingWorx Developer Portal content being migrated here.   Please let us know if you have any questions. 

Hey Community Members – I have exciting news to share! Last week, PTC announced that ThingWorx was recognized as a frontrunner IIOT Platform in four leading analyst research reports on the industrial software market.   In alphabetical order, the reports PTC/ThingWorx was named in were: ABI Research’s Smart Manufacturing Platforms Competitive Ranking The Forrester Wave™: Industrial IoT Software Platforms, Q3 2021 The Gartner® Magic QuadrantTM for Industrial IoT Platforms IDC MarketScape for Industrial IoT Platforms and Applications for Manufacturing Not only is PTC the only company included in all four reports, but it also placed as a leader in all four, which hopefully makes you feel confident in your choice to use ThingWorx. The research criteria the analyst firms use to make selections is unique to each firm, but to us, all of them measure the value ThingWorx can bring to an industrial business.   What value does ThingWorx bring to you?   Stay connected, Rachel               Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Industrial IoT Platforms, Alfonso Velosa, Ted Friedman, Katell Thielemann, Emil Berthelsen, Peter Havart-Simkin, Eric Goodness, Matthew Flatley, Lloyd Jones, Kevin Quinn, 18 October 2021 Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Gartner and Magic Quadrant are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved. (this will be soon updated in our Policy as well)  

The long-awaited manufacturing solution,  ThingWorx Digital Performance Management (DPM), has arrived! Announced at PTC’s  Manufacturing Live event, DPM provides key use cases around overall equipment effectiveness and real-time performance monitoring, while delivering insights with analytics and automated bottleneck identification tools. DPM gives customers clear insight into where and what to fix to drive efficiencies. Composed of modular building blocks with a foundation on the ThingWorx platform, DPM is easily configurable and customizable for closed-loop problem solving that drives productivity.   Let’s take a deeper look into what DPM is and how you can implement it to ensure your investment in the ThingWorx platform and digital transformation delivers business impact.   Monitor in real-time with Production Dashboard The Production Dashboard allows for automated or manual data entry of reason codes with a simple interface for limited disruption. Rather than providing front-line workers with the typical, difficult to understand, percentage based KPIs, Production Dashboard standardizes all losses, so operators can proactively resolve issues during production. You can configure this dashboard to collect granular data and allow opportunities for continuous improvement in process tracking.     Focus with Bottleneck Analysis Bottleneck analysis automatically identifies bottlenecks across the manufacturing process. Identifying bottlenecks can help you prioritize the highest-impact opportunities in the business process. This saves you having to manually identify and analyze potential issues and frees you up to work on other projects.   Prioritize with Time Loss Waterfall and Analyze with Loss Reason Pareto Monitor and analyze performance with data visualizations that help you pinpoint root causes and suggest improvements. Bring together your siloed data into one system and create a standard for how performance is measured and reported.   Improve with Action Tracker Action Tracker allows you to create continuous improvement actions tied to real production losses, to ensure your actions are having positive impact and return.  Create a digital workspace for teams to collaborate and learn from each other. Plus, you can track the improvements delivered through each individual action, so you can drill down and create transparency of work being done.   Confirm value delivered with Scorecard (Available in Later Versions) With the Scorecard feature, you can leverage a standard scorecard for enterprise wide KPIs to summarize factory health and compare similar factory operations. Use the scorecard to create trending and reporting that can be filtered based on the audience you are presenting data to. The scorecard gives you a consistent view that measures performance across the network and drives visibility and accountability across your business.   How do you plan to leverage DPM or the building blocks that make it up? We’d love to hear your thoughts on the first manufacturing solution from PTC.   Stay connected, Rachel   

ThingWorx v10.1 is officially here, and it’s the perfect end to a massive year!! This release brings together AI Assistants, Model Context Protocol for agent to systems communication, Adv. MQTT/Sparkplug B support to simplify industrial data management, robust solutions, and more     Reflecting on the year, our team delivered 80+ product releases and 1,000+ valuable improvements, impacting 7,000+ manufacturers worldwide. This milestone belongs to our incredible team, our vibrant community, and our partners. But what truly sets us apart is the deep AI expertise we’ve cultivated together. We’ve already moved past the 'experimental' phase by shipping real-world AI capabilities—and our roadmap for next year is even more ambitious. The bottom line: AI isn’t a threat to low-code; it’s a force multiplier. We aren't just keeping pace; we’re supercharging the platform, and we’re only just getting started. Have a safe and happy holiday, everyone! See you on the other side. P.S:  Also find attached the downloadable version of the slide that highlights our major on-prem releases, though it doesn't include the nearly double number of regular updates delivered through our SaaS offerings. Cheers, Ayush Tiwari Director Product Management    

Introduction ThingWorx 10.1 takes a major step toward intelligent interoperability by introducing the Model Context Protocol (MCP) in Public Preview. As industries accelerate their use of AI-assisted operations, MCP provides a standardized way for AI agents to securely connect with real-world industrial data and perform actions across systems.   Our key goal is enabling agent-driven automation along with intelligent interoperability. MCP allows AI models and agents to interact with external systems such as ERP, MES, CRM, and analytics platforms in a structured and secure way. It removes the need for custom connectors and integrations, enabling developers to use a single, open standard to bridge AI and operational data. In essence, MCP allows AI to work natively with ThingWorx services and data models.   ThingWorx and MCP   Low-Code Enablement for Agentic Automation ThingWorx now embeds an MCP Server directly into the platform. This means that your existing ThingWorx services can be instantly made “AI-ready” without the need for external deployments. Through a simple low-code interface called MCPServices, users can define, manage, and expose three core MCP entities — Tools, Resources, and Prompts — that form the building blocks of contextual AI workflows.   MCP Services   Tools represent actions or functions AI can call (such as retrieving machine KPIs), Resources represent contextual data the AI can reference, and Prompts are reusable templates that guide AI on how to interact with them. This model creates a foundation for secure, context-aware automation that can be reused across multiple agents and applications. Secure by Design, Open by Standard MCP in ThingWorx follows industry-standard security protocols by introducing OAuth-protected metadata endpoints, compliant with RFC 9728. These endpoints let clients authenticate and discover the resources they’re authorized to use — ensuring data access remains secure while supporting open interoperability.   This aligns with ThingWorx’s broader goal: creating an ecosystem where AI agents can safely access contextualized industrial data across systems. Whether connecting to SAP, Salesforce, or another MCP-compatible server, your ThingWorx instance can now participate in a larger agentic ecosystem. Seamless Interoperability and Scalability All MCP configurations — tools, resources, and prompts — are stored within ThingWorx’s persistence layer, ensuring that your MCP setup scales with your enterprise environment. Agents can connect to multiple ThingWorx servers deployed globally, retrieve contextual data from each, and feed it into AI-driven workflows that span factories, regions, or entire business units.   This design lays the groundwork for domain-specific large language models (DSLMS) and enterprise AI assistants that understand and act on operational data directly from ThingWorx. Feature Summary For instance, you may have ThingWorx Server 1 supporting factory sites in the USA, another in Germany, and a third in Mexico. These local ThingWorx deployments, powered by MCP capabilities, can expose rich contextualized data for agentic automation.   MCP clients could then be used to perform enterprise-wide KPI calculations to benchmark performance across factory sites over standard metrics such as OEE.   As local systems (ERP, MES, or factory systems) adopt MCP, ThingWorx MCP clients can directly access their data, enabling seamless integration without building custom REST connectors — saving significant development effort in API integration and data mapping.     MCP Usage with TWX - Concept     Capability Description Embedded MCP Server Native support inside ThingWorx – no extra setup required. MCPServices Resource Low-code interface to manage Tools, Resources, and Prompts. OAuth Security RFC 9728-compliant protected metadata for secure AI access. Persistence Layer Stores MCP configurations across databases for scalability. AI Integration Enables context-aware, agentic automation via MCP Tools.   Feature Benefits Overall, MCP support with ThingWorx delivers several key benefits: Standardized, secure, and discoverable data access via the ThingWorx MCP Server, making operations AI-ready. Dynamic population of MCP tools without the need for custom code. Ability for AI agent developers to create tailored agents that use selective ThingWorx services enriched with context for higher accuracy. Seamless alignment with agentic AI architectures for automated workflows. Direct interoperability with enterprise systems already supporting MCP servers, allowing AI agents to connect and retrieve data easily. Upgrade to ThingWorx 10.1 to try MCP The introduction of MCP marks the start of AI-native industrial automation in ThingWorx. By adopting 10.1, you gain early access to a framework that will power the next generation of connected, intelligent systems — helping your business stay ahead as AI integration accelerates across industries.   We encourage feedback from users who have tried the MCP preview — what capabilities would you like to see next, and how can we improve interoperability and automation through ThingWorx   If you’re new to ThingWorx release phases, read about Public Preview and other stages here Vineet Khokhar Principal Product Manager, IoT Security   Stay tuned for more updates as we approach the release of ThingWorx 10.1, and as always, in case of issues, feel free to reach out to <support.ptc.com>  

Introduction With ThingWorx 10.1, we're excited to announce MQTT support for IoT streams for data egress as Private Preview. This is a significant value add that allows ThingWorx to continue to be used as a DataOps layer for end-to-end industrial data management. With its ability to ingest data from disparate sources, contextualize and transform it, and send data in a custom-defined format over Kafka, and now MQTT, ThingWorx enables real-time consumption of data by end applications, allowing necessary interoperability without the worry of data lock-in. Especially in the age of AI, customers can use ThingWorx not only to ingest data from connected machines, systems, and people but also to push processed, contextualized, AI-ready data outward. This enables external systems, data lakes, cloud systems, or UNS layers to consume the data in real time, making IT/OT convergence seamless. With this capability, having a Sparkplug B connector built in, users can use ThingWorx to directly load contextualized data onto MQTT brokers that is transformed into Sparkplug B format, helping them achieve their goals for establishing a decoupled, modular, and modern manufacturing architecture allowing complete access and traceability of their own data. Modern Manufacturing Architecture   Built for Reliability and Scale MQTT (Message Queuing Telemetry Transport) is a lightweight, publish-subscribe protocol designed for IoT efficiency. The ThingWorx 10.1 implementation uses the Durable Queue Framework, the same foundation behind IoT Streams, to ensure reliable message delivery even under network fluctuations. Developers can configure MQTTQueueProviders to define topics and manage data publishing with minimal setup. Each queue can dynamically format its topic names, ensuring scalable routing for multiple devices or templates. The system supports both MQTT 3.1.1 and 5.0 for broad compatibility. Seamless Setup, Strong Integration New ThingWorx entities such as SparkplugBQueueProvider, SparkplugBDevice ThingShape, and related services simplify setup and connection management. Administrators can create and associate IoT Streams with MQTT queues in a few clicks, route property updates to external topics, and monitor connection health directly within Composer. This unified workflow makes it easy to connect ThingWorx data to external analytics systems, industrial data lakes, or cloud-based applications using low-code tools from ThingWorx. Adding Structure with Sparkplug B Beyond raw MQTT data, ThingWorx now supports Sparkplug B, an open industrial data specification that brings structure and state awareness to MQTT communications. Sparkplug B defines a common topic format and uses birth and death messages to indicate device lifecycle events, ensuring that systems always know which devices are online or offline. Payloads are serialized using Protocol Buffers (Protobuf) for lightweight, high-performance communication, making it ideal for bandwidth-constrained environments. Together, these enhancements position ThingWorx as both a data receiver and publisher, a core participant in UNS-aligned ecosystems where structured MQTT data flows freely across IT and OT systems, simplifying IT/OT convergence. Feature Summary   Capability Description MQTT Publishing Send Thing property data to brokers like HiveMQ or Mosquitto. Sparkplug B Support Structured MQTT with standardized topics and lifecycle management. Durable Queue Integration Ensures reliable, ordered message delivery. New Queue Providers MQTTQueueProvider and SparkplugBQueueProvider for outbound data. Unified Namespace Alignment Enables ThingWorx to act as a UNS-compliant data source. Join the Private Preview The MQTT Egress capability extends ThingWorx interoperability beyond ingestion, allowing contextualized data to be shared across the enterprise or to the cloud. You can now join the Private Preview to gain early access to this key building block of the future UNS-enabled ThingWorx ecosystem and contribute feedback that helps shape its evolution. To understand what Private Preview means in ThingWorx, check this overview here Vineet Khokhar Principal Product Manager, IoT Security Stay tuned for more updates as we approach the release of ThingWorx 10.1, and as always, in case of issues, feel free to reach out to <support.ptc.com>

Introduction The JavaScript Debugger, first introduced in ThingWorx 10.0, is now generally available with the 10.1 release. This feature is now production-ready and provides a fully integrated debugging experience within the ThingWorx platform. It allows developers to build, test, and troubleshoot logic directly in Composer with greater efficiency and control. The debugger is built into ThingWorx Composer, enabling developers to step through code, set breakpoints, and view live variable data within the same environment. This integrated approach simplifies development workflows and improves both code quality and delivery speed. Bringing Real-Time Debugging to the Platform The feature is powered by a dedicated Debugging Subsystem that manages sessions, breakpoints, and state inspection in a structured way. Developers can initiate and control debugging sessions directly, while the platform automatically handles performance and stability through session timeouts and resource management. If a session becomes idle or runs for too long, ThingWorx automatically terminates it to preserve performance. The Variable Scope Window displays both ThingWorx base and complex variable types in real time. Developers can inspect and modify variable values as code executes, removing the need to rerun scripts for minor changes. Watch Windows enable tracking of expressions dynamically, improving visibility into logic flow. Security is built into the debugger. Access is limited to authorized users, with design-time and runtime permission controls that protect sensitive runtime data and maintain system integrity during testing. Smart, Intuitive, and Streamlined The debugger is designed to make troubleshooting more transparent and efficient. The call stack view provides detailed execution traces in JSON format, helping developers understand service-to-service interactions across complex workflows. Breakpoints can be defined across services, ThingTemplates, and ThingShapes, allowing visibility across the model. Developers can use keyboard shortcuts to control debugging steps such as step-in, step-over, and continue. JSON and InfoTable visualization capabilities allow structured data to be viewed and edited directly in the debugger interface. This provides a more interactive and contextual testing environment.   All functionality is available within the ThingWorx Composer interface. There is no external dependency or additional setup required—developers can enable the debugger in platform settings, restart the environment, and begin debugging immediately. Feature Summary JS Debugger Features with ThingWorx 10.1   Capability Description Integrated Debugging Native JavaScript debugging directly within ThingWorx Composer. Debugging Subsystem Manages sessions, breakpoints, and execution state efficiently. Variable Scope Window Real-time variable inspection and modification. Secure Permissions Role-based access to debugging tools and logs. Breakpoint & Call Stack View Trace code execution across entities in JSON format. Auto Timeout Management Sessions terminate automatically to preserve performance. JSON & InfoTable Viewer Visual inspection and editing of data structures. Why Upgrade to ThingWorx 10.1 The JavaScript Debugger in ThingWorx 10.1 enhances the development process with an integrated, secure, and modern debugging environment. It helps teams reduce development time, improve reliability, and simplify issue resolution.   Upgrade to ThingWorx 10.1 to experience a streamlined, secure, and developer-first debugging workflow that will transform how you build and maintain your industrial IoT applications. You can read about what Private Preview, Public Preview, and General Availability mean in ThingWorx here Vineet Khokhar Principal Product Manager, IoT Security Stay tuned for more updates as we approach the release of ThingWorx 10.1, and as always, in case of issues, feel free to reach out to <support.ptc.com>

Hello ThingWorx community!   I’d like to invite you to join me and our ThingWorx experts for an exclusive webinar on October 30 at 11:00 AM (EDT) to explore the transformative potential of Agentic AI within the ThingWorx Industrial IoT and AI platform. In this session, you’ll gain insights into ThingWorx’s AI strategy, focused on delivering actionable intelligence and accelerating digital transformation across the product lifecycle. You’ll also see in action: Hands-on demos integrating Large Language Models (LLMs) with ThingWorx 10.X How to enable agentic automation using Model Context Protocol (MCP) Ways to enhance industrial apps with real-time decisions, natural language, and computer vision AI So, register here:   [Webinar]: ThingWorx Innovation With Industrial IoT and AI    Also, here is a personal video invitation message to you all!      Post webinar, please provide your feedback and comments below!    We look forward to having you join us!     Cheers, Ayush Tiwari Director Product Management  

IoT Streams for your end-to-end Industrial Data management with ThingWorx Since its launch with ThingWorx 10.0 in June 2025, the IoT Streams feature has been a hit!! It’s exceeded my expectations to see the creative ways it adds value to the ThingWorx ecosystem. IoT Streams utilizes Apache Kafka or Azure Event Hubs as a distributed streaming platform, serving as a robust message broker and data pipeline. It empowers industrial data management by providing access to ThingWorx contextualized data for analytics, reporting, and generative AI. It enables streaming of ThingWorx data to data lakes and cold archival storage while maintaining hot data availability for real-time insights. It also enhances the platform’s scalability and reliability with robust processing of high event volumes through a durable message broker. Working with early adopters, our services team has authored a best practices guide along with sample code to help you start with IoT Streams. The GitHub artifact located at https://github.com/PTCInc/iot_stream provides practical guidance for leveraging ThingWorx IoT Streams to: Export data from ThingWorx to external systems Implement durable queues for reliability Design scalable streaming architectures Integrate with Kafka and Azure Event Hubs In addition, with the recent ThingWorx 10.0.1 maintenance release, users can send custom JSON payloads to external messaging systems using the new WriteJSONToQueue service. Lastly, I'm also enclosing an excerpt from our ThingWorx 10.0 Webinar where you can see a demo on IoT streams and hear directly from ThingWorx and Microsoft on how it enables integration between ThingWorx and Microsoft Fabric: For full video, checkout the replay of ThingWorx 10.0 webinar here: https://www.ptc.com/en/resources/industrials/webcast/thingworx-10-launch-replay So, check it out, try IoT Streams in your projects, and share how you’re using it in the comments. For questions or support, please do not hesitate to log a technical support ticket.   Cheers, Ayush Tiwari Director Product Management