# Cirrus Link Solution's Arlen Nipper | Building MQTT and its Role in IIoT

- Show: [IoT For All Podcast](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast)
- Published: 2020-06-29
- Length: 38m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot
- Listen: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/iot-for-all/episodes/Cirrus-Link-Solutions-Arlen-Nipper--Building-MQTT-and-its-Role-in-IIoT-e28bmsg

## Summary

Arlen Nipper, co-creator of MQTT and President of Cirrus Link Solutions, explains the protocol's origins in industrial communications and its evolution into a dominant IoT standard. He details how Cirrus Link developed the Spark Plug specification to solve interoperability issues in IIoT by adding context and metadata to raw data streams. Nipper argues that this approach enables scalable digital transformation by allowing OT systems to publish data directly to cloud machine models without complex custom coding.

## Chapters

- [0:02](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot#t=2) Introduction: Arlen Nipper and Cirrus Link Solutions
- [2:06](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot#t=126) Arlen Nipper's Background and the Genesis of MQTT
- [6:17](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot#t=377) How MQTT Works and Why It Became Dominant
- [7:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot#t=473) Cirrus Link Solutions and the Spark Plug Specification
- [17:44](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot#t=1064) Spark Plug vs. OPC UA and Data Context
- [21:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot#t=1269) Avoiding Pilot Purgatory with Spark Plug
- [26:34](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot#t=1594) Customer Engagement and Proof of Value
- [29:10](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot#t=1750) The Paradigm Shift from Polling to Pub/Sub
- [31:03](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot#t=1863) Use Cases: SignalFire, Canary Labs, and Smart Cities
- [34:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot#t=2044) MQTT 5.0, Eclipse Foundation, and Future Outlook

## Topics

- [Connected products & IoT](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/connected-products-and-iot)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)

## Most relevant to

companies scaling up

## Mentioned

- MQTT (other)
- Cirrus Link Solutions (company)
- Spark Plug (other)
- OPC UA (other)
- Node-RED (other)
- Amazon (company)
- Microsoft (company)
- IBM (company)
- Eclipse Software Foundation (company)
- SignalFire (company)
- Canary Labs (company)
- Inductive Automation (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [Making Industrial IoT Work: Lessons from 30 Years in Automation with Grace Technologies](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2024-12-19-making-industrial-iot-work-lessons-from-30-years-in-automation-with-grace-techno) (Over the Air)
- [Managing 250 Million Messages Per Day](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-05-12-managing-250-million-messages-per-day) (Over the Air)
- [155: Down to Earth Digital Transformation Advice with Vatsal Shah](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/manufacturing-happy-hour/2023-09-26-155-down-to-earth-digital-transformation-advice-with-vatsal-shah) (Manufacturing Happy Hour)
- [Why IoT Has Been So Slow to Evolve with Don DeLoach, Co-founder of Rocket Wagon Venture Studios](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2022-09-29-why-iot-has-been-so-slow-to-evolve-with-don-deloach-co-founder-of-rocket-wagon-v) (Over the Air)
- [The Human-Centric Tech Revolution: Reimagining Indoor Environments With Bubblynet](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/over-the-air/2024-12-12-the-human-centric-tech-revolution-reimagining-indoor-environments-with-bubblynet) (Over the Air)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/iot-for-all-podcast/2020-06-29-cirrus-link-solutions-arlen-nipper-building-mqtt-and-its-role-in-iiot. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to IoT For All Podcast.