IIoT platforms’ architectural features – a taxonomy and five prevalent archetypes

Abstract In the industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), digital platforms have recently received significant attention. Although IIoT revolve around similar business objectives, they address various use cases and, thus, differ considerably in their architectural setup. While research has already investigated from a or design perspective, little is known about underlying technology stack and its implications. To unveil different platform configurations better understand design, we systematically develop validate taxonomy platforms’ features based on related literature, real-world cases, expert interviews. On this foundation, identify discuss five archetypes (Allrounder, Device Controller, Data Hub, Service Enabler, Connector). Our findings contribute to descriptive knowledge ambiguous field while also elucidating interplay setup purpose. From managerial viewpoint, our results may guide practitioners comparing selecting suitable platform.