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

在工业物联网 (IIoT) 中，数字平台最近受到了广泛关注。尽管 IIoT 平台围绕着类似的业务目标，但它们解决了各种用例，因此在架构设置上存在很大差异。虽然研究已经从业务或设计的角度研究了 IIoT 平台，但对其底层技术堆栈及其影响知之甚少。为了揭示不同的 IIoT 平台配置并更好地了解其架构设计，我们根据相关文献、真实案例和专家访谈系统地开发和验证 IIoT 平台架构特征的分类。在此基础上，我们确定并讨论了五种 IIoT 平台原型（Allrounder、Device Controller、Data Hub、Service Enabler、Connector）。我们的发现有助于在这个模棱两可的研究领域提供描述性知识，同时也阐明了 IIoT 平台架构设置及其目的的相互作用。从管理的角度来看，我们的结果可以指导从业者比较和选择合适的 IIoT 平台。