A use case for a data management system for machine-to-machine communication was defined. A centralized system for managing data flow and storage is required for machines to securely communicate with other machines. Embedded devices are typical endpoints that must be serviced by this system and the system must, therefore, be easy to use. These systems have to bill the data usage of the machines that make use of its services. Data management systems are subject to variable load and must there- fore be able to scale dynamically on demand in order to service end- points. For robustness of such an online-service it must be highly available. By following design science research as the research methodology, cloud-based computing was investigated as a target deployment for such a data management system in this research project. An implementation of a cloud-based system was synthesised, evaluated and tested, and shown to be valid for this use case. Empirical testing and a practical field test validated the proposal. / Thesis (MIng (Computer and Electronic Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

A use case for a data management system for machine-to-machine communication was defined. A centralized system for managing data flow and storage is required for machines to securely communicate with other machines. Embedded devices are typical endpoints that must be serviced by this system and the system must, therefore, be easy to use. These systems have to bill the data usage of the machines that make use of its services. Data management systems are subject to variable load and must there- fore be able to scale dynamically on demand in order to service end- points. For robustness of such an online-service it must be highly available. By following design science research as the research methodology, cloud-based computing was investigated as a target deployment for such a data management system in this research project. An implementation of a cloud-based system was synthesised, evaluated and tested, and shown to be valid for this use case. Empirical testing and a practical field test validated the proposal. / Thesis (MIng (Computer and Electronic Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.