Northern.tech Simplifies Complex Connected Product Software Security and Management with Mender Component Orchestration

Protecting product integrity, Mender component orchestration ensures that an entire multi-component system operates in perfect unison.

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Northern.tech, the leader in device lifecycle management and the company behind Mender, today announced the release of component orchestration in Mender—the ability to consistently and securely manage the entire software system of a connected product. Beyond "one image, one device" updates, component orchestration maintains a single desired state for the entire product—across processors, microcontrollers (MCUs), operating systems, applications, AI models, and more. Whether deployed over-the-air, in air-gapped environments, or across secure, closed networks, Mender component orchestration makes it simple for manufacturers to ensure the entire connected product operates in perfect unison and synchrony, reducing engineering complexity, maintenance requirements, unexpected downtime, and operational risk.

Connected products are no longer a single device and a single software image. When 90% of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) manage multi-component products, updating individual components is not enough, and relying on legacy software update mechanisms creates infrastructure bottlenecks, delays product launches, and introduces risks to product integrity, compliance, and security.

For example, the Zephyr Project, part of the Linux Foundation, builds a secure, connected, and flexible real-time operating system for resource-constrained devices. As connected products combine Zephyr-based microcontrollers with other processors, operating systems, and applications, coordinating updates across these components is essential for maintaining product integrity. "Connected products are built from components with different architectures, software, and updated requirements. Keeping those pieces compatible and secure across every update can create a significant burden for engineering teams," said Kate Stewart, Vice President of Dependable Embedded Systems at the Linux Foundation. "We welcome Mender's component orchestration to the Zephyr ecosystem to help manufacturers manage their product, so they can update with confidence while preserving integrity throughout its lifecycle."

Today, manufacturers must manually map and sequence every single horizontal and vertical dependency between components, verify software-hardware compatibility, coordinate update order, and ensure security across the entire product system. Without component orchestration, individually updating components in isolation becomes untenable.

Simplified, secure software management protects product integrity

Nearly three in five OEMs expect their current device management infrastructure to become inadequate in three years or less. Traditional software update infrastructure, designed for simpler products, is insufficient for today's advanced products.

"Connected products contain a web of vertical dependencies that affect individual component update steps, and horizontal dependencies that require related systems to run compatible versions – for example due to changes in a local communication protocol," explains Eystein Stenberg, CTO of Northern.tech. "Mender simplifies software management securely and robustly, eliminating the risks of updating modern, multi-component connected systems."

Component orchestration delivers three key advancements for OEMs:

• Unified product software management. Ensure product integrity. Integrate and coordinate updates across components without requiring each internal component to run the same operating system or a heavy software client. Deploying software configurations as a single atomic unit guards against incompatible or mismatched software states, eliminates manual coordination, and reduces the risk of failure.
• Atomic whole system rollbacks. Reduce maintenance costs and operational risks. If an update fails, Mender automatically triggers an all-or-nothing rollback across the entire product architecture, leveraging existing rollback mechanisms or implementing one if none exist. The fail-safe execution instantly preserves product integrity and eliminates the risk of operational downtime caused by partial or broken configurations.
• Total component lifecycle security. Accelerates EU CRA compliance. While manufacturers recognize the need for device-level security, compliance requires managing and tracking every individual component within that product architecture. Mender automatically maintains an audit-ready view of the entire internal software state, providing a verifiable, searchable Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) and real-time validation across the entire active lifecycle.

Ensuring a secure, connected future

"We definitely see growing challenges around component orchestration, especially when combining Yocto and Zephyr—a requirement we are increasingly seeing and implementing in modern system designs," comments Anna-Lena Marx, Yocto Project Ambassador and Embedded Systems Developer at Inovex. "Until now, managing updates for additional components often meant relying on custom scripts or extending the update flow via Mender state scripts. A declarative approach is a very interesting development because it allows us to further decouple dependencies between engineering teams. The ongoing challenge, of course, will be defining meaningful declarative states and thoroughly testing the possible combinations."

By managing complex, multi-component connected products as a single, coordinated system, Mender helps manufacturers accelerate time-to-market and eliminate post-launch liability. With component orchestration, engineering teams can safely orchestrate synchronized software deployments across heterogeneous architectures, from microcontrollers to AI models, without risking bricked hardware or state mismatch.

About Mender

Mender offers robust, secure, and customizable over-the-air (OTA) software updates for smart devices. Powering OTA software updates for more than a million devices worldwide over a decade, Mender boasts a proven track record with Fortune 1000 clients, including Airbus, Lyft, Volkswagen, Siemens, Thales, and ZF Group.

Learn more about OTA software update management.

Mender is developed and maintained by Northern.tech. Founded in 2008, Northern.tech is the leader in device lifecycle management with a mission to secure the world's connected devices.

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SOURCE Northern.tech