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Industrial IoT Venture

Overview

This repository documents the strategic planning and execution roadmap for an industrial IoT consulting and platform business, leveraging 13 years of controls engineering experience combined with 4 years of cloud engineering expertise.

Current Status

Phase: Planning & Strategy
Target Launch: Q1 2026 (Phase 1 - Consulting)
Bootstrap Approach: Self-funded, minimal capital requirements

Core Strategy

3-Phase Bootstrap Approach:

  • Phase 1 (Months 1-3): OT/IT Integration Consulting - Revenue generation, market validation
  • Phase 2 (Months 4-9): Edge Monitoring Platform - Recurring revenue, infrastructure buildout
  • Phase 3 (Months 10-18): GPU-Powered AI Features - Premium tier, predictive maintenance

Key Differentiators

  1. OT/IT Hybrid Expertise: Rare combination of PLC programming + cloud engineering
  2. Edge-First Architecture: Data sovereignty, low latency, works offline
  3. No AWS Conflict: Positioned as complementary, not competitive
  4. Bootstrap-Friendly: Start with $500, scale with customer cash
  5. LXC Expertise: Proven multi-tenant container architecture from ZeroLagHub

Repository Structure

Strategic Documents

  • STRATEGY.md - Overall strategic direction and positioning
  • recommended-approach.md - Detailed 3-phase execution plan
  • business-models.md - All business model options evaluated
  • financials.md - Revenue models, projections, economics
  • go-to-market.md - 90-day sprint, customer targeting, pitch
  • risks-and-constraints.md - AWS non-compete, risk mitigation

Market Research

  • competitive-analysis.md - Market research and competitive landscape
  • msp-competitive-landscape.md - Detailed MSP and remote support competitor analysis

Technical Implementation

  • technical-stack.md - Infrastructure overview, tools, deployment architecture
  • virtual-plc-implementation.md - NEW Complete technical implementation guide for virtual PLC platform

Quick Reference

Target Market: Small-to-mid manufacturers ($10-100M revenue)
Initial Capital: $500-1,000
Target Revenue (Month 3): $20k-45k
Target Revenue (Month 18): $35k/month recurring

Technical Implementation Highlights

The virtual-plc-implementation.md file contains comprehensive technical details including:

Platform Architecture

  • Multi-tenant LXC container architecture (proven from ZeroLagHub)
  • GTHost dedicated servers ($59-500/month)
  • 70% code reuse between gaming and industrial platforms
  • Revenue model: $500-5,000/month per customer (vs $50-150 for gaming)

Virtual PLC Options

  • OpenPLC (open source, $0 cost) - for 70% of customers
  • CODESYS Virtual Control (commercial, $99-499/month) - for premium/certified needs
  • Hybrid approach for maximum flexibility

Software Stack

  • Lightweight: OpenPLC + Node-RED + Grafana ($0 software cost, 98% margins)
  • Professional: CODESYS + RapidSCADA + Grafana ($380/year, 90% margins)
  • All-in-One: Beremiz (PLC + HMI combined, $0 cost)

Edge Hardware

  • Recommended: Industrial Mini PCs ($110-250) - reliable, affordable, professional
  • Not Recommended: Raspberry Pi (SD card failures, support nightmare)
  • Premium: Certified Industrial PCs ($400-1,500) for enterprise customers

Business Model

  • Tier 1: Dev/Simulation - $500/month
  • Tier 2: Virtual Commissioning - $1,500/month
  • Tier 3: Production Monitoring - $2,500-5,000/month
  • Target: 2-5 customers for $10k MRR (vs 70-200 gaming customers)

Latest Research

MSP Competitive Landscape

The msp-competitive-landscape.md file contains comprehensive research on:

  • Tier 1 competitors (Rockwell, Siemens, Schneider)
  • Tier 2 system integrators (New Frontier Technologies, Atlas OT, ITS)
  • Digital twin providers (NVIDIA, GE Predix, Rockwell FactoryTalk Twin Studio)
  • MSP market gaps and opportunities
  • True subscription model scarcity
  • Competitive positioning strategies

Key Finding: Significant blue ocean opportunity for true MSP/subscription model serving mid-market manufacturers ($1k-5k/month range).

Virtual PLC Implementation

The virtual-plc-implementation.md file documents:

  • Complete multi-tenant platform architecture using LXC
  • Virtual PLC software options (OpenPLC, CODESYS, hybrid approach)
  • SCADA/HMI stack (Node-RED, RapidSCADA, Grafana)
  • Edge hardware recommendations
  • Security, backup, and monitoring architecture
  • Cost analysis and economics (86-88% gross margins)
  • Step-by-step implementation roadmap

Next Actions

  1. Immediate (Week 1): Provision GTHost trial server, deploy OpenPLC + Node-RED
  2. Short-term (Month 1): Build customer container template, identify pilot customers
  3. Medium-term (Month 2-3): Onboard first pilot customer, refine deployment process

See go-to-market.md for the complete 90-day sprint checklist.


Last Updated: December 2025