Device relationship management (DRM) is enterprise software that enables the monitoring, managing, and servicing of intelligent devices over the Internet. An intelligent device might be almost any type of equipment, instrument, or machine that has built-in computing capability. With DRM software, an organization can maintain a continuous flow of information between onsite people and applications and remote devices anywhere in
the world.
DRM was developed by eMation, which was since acquired by RAVISENT Technologies. The combined company is now known as Axeda Systems Inc. Axeda's DRM system is made up of a suite of products to enable device linking, monitoring, remote service, commerce, and administration. The components include: Axeda Applications(TM), enterprise servers, agents, and Axeda Integrator(TM).
The increasing trend towards pervasive computing is creating a demand for DRM products. Intelligent devices have the capacity to gather a great deal of information that could be extremely useful to manufacturers, vendors, and enterprise clients, among others. According to a January 2002 study conducted by Harbor Research, the number of intelligent devices networked for the purposes of remote administration -- excluding telephones and personal computers -- is expected to exceed 500 million by 2010.