For nearly forty years, the building automation world has operated under an unwritten rule: If you want to touch a building’s control system, you’d better be standing in front of it or at least wrestled into submission by a clunky VPN.
But that era is officially drawing to a close.
In a massive industry signal, Tridium (the Honeywell-owned giant behind the Niagara Framework) recently announced a multi-million dollar shift to position its platform as cloud-native infrastructure ahead of Niagara 5. With new features like Niagara Remote and FoxC machine-to-machine connectivity, the message from the market leader is clear: The cloud is no longer an optional add-on for BMS; it is core infrastructure.
Virtually every major player in the building automation space now offers some flavor of a cloud solution. This industry-wide shift is a massive win for portfolio owners, promise-wise: zero truck rolls for simple fixes, centralized multi-site data, and streamlined remote support.
But as cloud architecture becomes the new baseline, the burden of managing that infrastructure shifts to you. Before you migrate your portfolio, here are 5 critical questions you should ask your BMS provider about Cloud offers.
5 Questions to Ask Before Moving Your BMS to the Cloud
1. Is this a truly turnkey solution with 24/7 support, or do I need to manage the infrastructure?
Software features are great, but someone still has to host the platform. Ask your provider: Who is handling the virtual machines, the server maintenance, the data egress limits, and the routine software patching? Will my internal team be on the hook if a cloud server goes down? Who do I call if I need support 24/7?
2. Do I need to hire new cloud and IT specialists to run this?
Many cloud options provide the software tools but leave the cloud network architecture up to you. If a platform requires your team to configure complex cloud environments, build custom network bridges, or monitor system uptime 24/7, you might find yourself hiring expensive IT and cloud engineering talent just to keep the lights on.
3. Does it work seamlessly with my legacy systems?
Most portfolios are a mix of brand-new controllers and legacy systems that aren’t ready for a modern containerized cloud environment. You need to know if your provider’s cloud solution forces a costly “all-or-nothing” hardware upgrade, or if it can safely bridge your existing on-premises edge systems into the cloud on your own terms.
4. Is the solution SOC2 Type 2 certified with Zero Trust security?
Moving building controls to the internet inherently expands your cyber threat landscape if not done correctly. Simply having an outbound connection isn’t enough. Ask for their security credentials: Is the entire data pipeline encrypted via TLS 1.3? Are there comprehensive, unalterable audit logs for remote access? Is the vendor independently verified via SOC2 Type 2 certification?
5. What is the disaster recovery plan if something breaks?
If an update fails or a cloud instance corrupts, how fast can your buildings recover? Ask your provider about their guaranteed uptime SLAs (Service Level Agreements), how often continuous data backups occur, and exactly how many hours it takes to execute a full disaster recovery to restore building operations.
If your current provider leaves the infrastructure, security, or legacy management gaps on your plate, you need a more secure, fully managed solution.
Neeve Cloud BMS was built precisely to answer “Yes” to all five of these questions. We deliver fully managed OT in the cloud, taking the complexity, security gaps, and hidden infrastructure costs completely off your hands.
What Neeve Brings to Your Portfolio:
- True Platform-as-a-Service: With our Managed N PaaS, Neeve handles all cloud infrastructure, software licensing, patches, and upgrades. Built on robust infrastructure (minimum 2vCPUs, 8GB memory, 100GB/month data egress), it delivers a 99.9% uptime SLA and an aggressive 4-hour disaster recovery window with continuous backups.
- A Bridge for Legacy Systems: Our Managed Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) IaaS provides secure Windows or Linux VMs in the cloud, allowing you to bring your own licenses and host legacy OT applications. Paired with our managed secure SDWAN functionality, we seamlessly link your edge hardware to the cloud, letting you migrate on your own terms.
- Enterprise Zero-Trust Security: Neeve is SOC2 Type 2 certified. We secure your buildings using a bookended architecture, certificate-based authentication, and end-to-end TLS 1.3 encryption via our Secure Edge infrastructure—giving you complete remote access visibility with full audit logs and zero inbound firewall vulnerabilities.
- Zero Overhead: No new hires required. Neeve manages, monitors, and supports your cloud environment 24/7, working alongside a trusted regional system integrator network to handle local configuration and maintenance.
- First on the AWS Marketplace (Procure Using Cloud Credits): Neeve is the first to offer a fully managed Cloud BMS via the AWS Marketplace. For enterprise organizations, this is a game-changer: you can purchase Neeve Cloud BMS directly through AWS, allowing you to seamlessly use your existing AWS Enterprise Discount Program (EDP) cloud credits and spend drawdowns.
Secure Your Cloud Journey on Your Own Terms
The cloud era for building automation is here, and it is a massive step forward for the industry. But you shouldn’t have to become a cloud infrastructure company just to reap the benefits.
Let your providers give you the tools, and let Neeve give you the secure, resilient, and fully managed cloud home to run them.
