The following are news announcements made during the past week:
PRESS RELEASE:
OSIsoft Collaborates With Dianomic as Part of Edge and Open-Source Strategy, Introduces Cloud-Services Portfolio
OSIsoft LLC, a leader in operational intelligence, has announced a collaboration with Dianomic Inc. as well as an investment in the company.
The collaboration with Dianomic is part of OSIsoft’s expanding edge strategy as well as an effort to bring the treasure trove of open source development tools to the PI System community. Under the alliance, Dianomic will build and support a set of Linux-based micro-service modules to help discover, connect, secure and manage smart sensors for OEMs and developers. Dianomic will use OSIsoft Message Format (OMF), which enables communication with the PI System and other OSIsoft technologies.
“Dianomic’s team has unique expertise and experience in time series streaming data, open source tools and open source services that make them ideal to help us bring the IIoT market and open source community together,” said Richard Beeson, OSIsoft’s Chief Technology Officer.
“As manufacturers add more and more sensors across their entire supply chain converting that data to information and delivering it to the right people is everything. Helping developers of new sensors and equipment send their data reliably to the PI System solves the problem,” said Tom Arthur, Dianomic’s Chief Executive Officer.
The fragmentation and complexity of IIoT-related technology holds the potential to slow adoption while adding unnecessary expense, added Arthur. Plant managers facing silos of data caused by deploying new smart sensors are frustrated. Ubiquitous open source tools helped solve similar pain points in IT and the web, open source and standards can solve these IIoT problems as well.
OSIsoft and Dianomic will show an alpha release of these micro-services modules during the OSIsoft User Conference taking place in London this week. The companies will also recruit developer partners to join the alpha and beta program, test the micro-services and help build a thriving open source community.
Dianomic is a team of talented individuals with a deep history in building successful open source, network, security, database and SaaS companies. Bringing their executive level open source experience from MySQL, SugarCRM, and Canonical will be critical in starting this new IIoT community.
OSIsoft has been collaborating with a number of companies to bring the power of the PI System to edge devices. Earlier this year, the company announced an initiative with Dell, ADLINK/PrismTech and vertical solution providers such as LILEE Systems among others to make it easier to link IoT Gateways and other devices to the PI System. OSIsoft edge software, along with technologies created by its partners, ultimately give manufacturers, energy providers, data center managers the ability to connect more assets and achieve a more comprehensive view of their operations
The micro-service modules being created by Dianomic Systems will complement OSIsoft’s edge software development.
The PI System is one of the world’s most widely-used technologies for IIoT. The PI System captures data from sensors, manufacturing equipment and other devices and transforms it into rich, real-time insights that engineers, executives and partners can use to reduce costs, dramatically improve overall productivity or create new services.
Some of the world’s largest organizations, including over 1,000 leading utilities, 95 percent of the largest oil and gas companies and more than 65 percent of the Fortune 500 industrial companies, rely on the PI System to manage their businesses. Worldwide, PI System manage over 1.5 billion sensor-based data streams.
The company has also announced OSIsoft Cloud Services, a new portfolio of services for securely storing, sharing and analyzing data with PI System technology in the cloud.
OSIsoft Cloud Services will allow existing PI System customers to more readily connect distributed facilities and assets to their existing PI System infrastructure or spin up new uses and applications for the PI System, such as predictive maintenance or leveraging PI System data for regulatory compliance. New customers, meanwhile, will be able to experiment with collecting, storing and analyzing data with the PI System.
OSIsoft Collaborates With Dianomic as Part of Edge and Open-Source Strategy, Introduces Cloud-Services Portfolio (continued)
OSIsoft Cloud Services will also serve as a foundation for integrated industrial digital communities where companies and people share data in real-time with supply chain partners, downstream customers, and service providers. OSIsoft will offer OSIsoft Cloud Services as a managed service on a subscription basis that will expand over time. Additionally, partners will offer services and applications for OSIsoft Cloud Services on the OSIsoft Marketplace.
“Our customers are integrating cloud technologies, but they need to do so in a safe, secure manner. Reliability, security and data integrity are paramount,” said Martin Otterson, Executive Vice President of Customer Success at OSIsoft, who announced the services at the OSIsoft EMEA Users Conference in London. “These new services are part of our strategy is to give our customers the ability to take advantage of the PI System anywhere–at the edge, across their enterprise, and in the cloud—so they can accelerate their digital transformation.”
OSIsoft is leveraging the services as part of the Red Carpet Incubation Program launched earlier this year by OSIsoft and Microsoft to accelerate advanced analytics initiatives that hinge on industrial operations data and analytics found in PI Systems as well as deep analytics capabilities delivered with Microsoft Azure. The program helps companies develop processes for preparing and transmitting PI System data so that it can be analyzed on Microsoft’s cloud platforms. RCIP participants include Barrick Gold, Toyota Motor Europe, Henkel and MPWiK.
OSIsoft and ARM will collaborate on ways to share data between a customer’s PI System (either on premise or cloud-based) and the ARM Mbed Cloud for connecting, managing and updating ARM-based devices. By linking the PI System and Mbed Cloud, customers can get a more comprehensive view of the activities across all of their devices in their enterprise.
“We’re very excited to be working with OSIsoft. The company has been a leader in helping industrial companies derive insights from machine data for decades,” said Chris Porthouse, Vice President and General Manager, Device Group, IoT Services, ARM. “This transformation won’t occur unless these customers can trust the technology. Together we can help companies adapt to the Industrial Internet of Things in a secure manner that works for them.”
Carnegie Mellon University, Lehigh University and Arizona State University are using OSIsoft’s cloud to capture data from laboratory equipment for conducting experiments in chemical engineering. OSIsoft Cloud Services free the department from installing and managing their own PI System and provides students a way to interact in a larger community to compare their results with others.
“The Academic Community Service provided by OSIsoft will be used in the controls class to demonstrate the challenges and opportunities in the digitalization of the US manufacturing industry and how this revolution provides pathways towards community based data sharing and information processing,” said Erik Ydstie, Professor of Chemical Engineering at CMU.
A regional water management district in California has been using OSIsoft Cloud Services to serve up “dashboards as a service” for monitoring different parts of its operation. The utility is also examining ways to share the data with business partners and others.
Currently, the vast majority OSIsoft customers purchase the PI System through licensing agreements and manage it themselves or in collaboration with a systems integrator. The business model largely derives from the needs of industrial customers The PI System provides real-time insight into critical operations such as productivity, energy consumption and safety. If this data is corrupted, lost or delayed, the result can be a regulatory violations, a scrapped production run or serious injuries to employees. The vast amount of data generated by industrial customers is also a factor: some customers track millions of devices and conduct over 100,000 calculations per minute on the PI System.
Over the past several years, OSIsoft has been adding cloud functionality to expand the number of users and uses for PI System data. Over 70 companies, for instance, have developed Connected Services in which PI System technology is embedded into software applications or heavy equipment such as pumps to collect, structure and transmit machine data. These services are typically delivered as value-added subscriptions. PI Cloud Connect, another service, lets PI System customers securely exchange data via the cloud links.
Additionally, OSIsoft has developed an expanding family of integrators to simplify and accelerate the process of delivering PI System data to enterprise applications and cloud platforms such as SAP HANA, ESRI ArcGIS, Microsoft Azure, among others.
“Manufacturers, utilities, oil refiners and other industrial and large commercial customers are in the midst of a massive transformation. Similarly, we’ve been evolving our technology and creating new products so our customers can better understand their operations and seize this historic opportunity,” added Otterson. “You’ll continue to see us innovate in the cloud, at the edge and within the enterprise. This is only the start.”
PRESS RELEASE:
Push Technology Releases Real-Time Data-Streaming Solution for IoT, Mobile App Development Teams
Push Technology, the leading real-time delta data streaming and messaging provider, has announced the release of Diffusion 6.0 – Push Technology’s patented, bi-directional, delta-data streaming and messaging platform is available on-premise, in-the-cloud, or in hybrid configurations.
Speed, resiliency, and ease of scalability are the fundamental requirements for Mobile and IoT application development. Challenges created by unreliable and congested networks stand in the way of meeting these requirements. Diffusion 6.0 is an out-of-the-box, Enterprise-grade, solution that easily integrates with new and existing application architectures – providing a flexible, reactive, and efficient data layer to solve the challenge of business application data management.
Sean Bowen, CEO of Push Technology, explains: “With our latest release we are delivering an Enterprise-grade, data streaming and messaging solution which is simple to deploy and provides customers with the flexibility to start small and add functionality as their requirements expand. Developers no longer need to spend time building real-time data management for their applications because everything they need is available in Diffusion 6.0. We have also focused on enhancing and automating the scalability of Diffusion to fuel application growth. Many organizations attempt to address scalability using traditional techniques and solutions which weren’t purpose-built for mobile and IoT applications. These technologies can be cumbersome to integrate and do not reliably scale. We offer a single solution that does it all.”
The new Diffusion release includes two add-on modules plus enhanced features to further offload development team tasks with out-of-the-box functionality.
The Scale & Availability Pack and the Auto-Scale Pack are designed to allow application developers to select enhanced Diffusion functionality specific to their application use case(s) requirements, as they scale and grow. The Scale & Availability Pack offers functionality including clustering, fan-out, and persistence – focused on addressing the challenges of resilience, geo-dispersement of data, and scaling to large audiences. The Auto-Scale Pack integrates Kubernetes andPrometheus to facilitate fast, simple, application deployment which enables Diffusion applications to be conveniently “containerized,” and easily managed, monitored and scaled.
The Diffusion 6.0 new out-of-the-box functionality also simplifies and speeds the development process with:
• Time series data. Time series are ordered series of events. Effective management of time series data is useful for tracking account history, managing inventory or logistics, and for collaborative applications, e.g. chat.
• Persistence. Data persistence preserves the state of data when a server is closed and then restarted. It is particularly useful for maintenance, update, or an unplanned outage. Persistence eliminates the need for the server to reload the data model when it starts.
• Typed request-response messaging. Diffusion now allows applications to send request messages or data to a client, a set of clients, or a message path and the recipient of the information can respond directly to the request. Diffusion takes care of data conversion, allowing applications to pass instances of the data type directly to and from the API. Importantly, this allows customers to co-ordinate messages sent with messages received enabling proper transactional interactions.
• Support of new data types. Diffusion now supports int64, string, and double. This new support enables developers to efficiently build applications without the need for complicated data transformations.
Push Technology earned its blue-chip reputation in sectors where real-time data delivery is critical to successfully execute time-sensitive and business-critical financial transactions. eGaming and financial services were early adopters of the company’s technology. Diffusion processes £5.2 Billion in bets annually for leading gaming industry brands, a huge volume of trading data for financial institutions, and manages data for IoT applications in the healthcare, media, energy, transportation, and many other markets across the IoT.
PRESS RELEASE:
ThingPark China Accelerates IoT, LoRaWAN Market in China With Launch of Ecosystem Lab
ThingPark China, a leading LPWA IoT platform and solutions development provider, has announced the opening of an IoT Ecosystem Lab in Beijing enabling device makers, application providers and customers to connect, test and evaluate their IoT solutions with its localized ThingPark LoRaWAN SaaS platform. ThingPark China is also opening its online Marketplace to IoT devices and solutions providers in China. ThingPark China Market will enable Chinese IoT devices and application sellers to accelerate the monetization of their IoT solutions with business customers in China, and also to benefit from the global audience and IoT sales opportunities enabled by Actility’s ThingPark Market.
Bing Liu, CEO of ThingPark China said, “Our Ecosystem Lab and Marketplace will help accelerate the growth of LoRaWAN-based IoT in China by supporting the local ecosystem at every stage from developing and testing their products to distributing solutions to local customers and taking them to market worldwide. We’re bringing the tried and tested solutions from Actility and adapting them to the needs of the local market.”
Chinese device makers and application developers will be able to create a free account on the ThingPark China developer SaaS platform, hosted in China, giving them access to LoRaWAN connectivity and a suite of tools and APIs, including a self-test capability, to support the integration of their solution with ThingPark.
A dedicated Ecosystem Lab facility in Beijing will provide a location with LoRaWAN coverage. Within the facility, developers will be able to use the self-testing tools for devices using the Chinese LoRaWAN frequency bands, and also prepare for international distribution by testing against European, APAC and US channel plans. For customers who prefer to develop and test in their own location, ThingPark China will offer a Developer Kit and gateway pre-configured to connect remotely to the ThingPark China developer platform.
Along with support for developers to create their products, the opening of the ThingPark China Market will provide the opportunity for them to sell local-market IoT products to business customers in China with a user experience optimized for Chinese buyers, and also to sign up to the international ThingPark Market, through which they can sell IoT devices and solutions for any region to customers around the globe, who will be able to buy them in almost 30 different local currencies.
“Here at the LoRa Alliance All-Members Meeting, we can see how quickly the interest and commitment to LoRaWAN is growing in China,” says Bing Liu, “and we’d like to extend an invitation to any company that is interested in adopting, developing and marketing LoRaWAN products globally to join our ecosystem, make use of our lab facilities, developer kits or online tools and sign up for our Market to accelerate their progress in bringing their solution to this dynamic and fast-growing market.”
PRESS RELEASE:
BlackBerry Research Confirms Cybersecurity Is Top Concern in Corporate IoT Deployments
BlackBerry Limited (NYSE: BB; TSX: BB) has announced findings from a new global research whitepaper, which surveyed IT decision makers on corporate IoT deployments. Conducted by 451 Research, the whitepaper titled, “Securing the Enterprise of Things: Opportunity for securing IoT with a unified platform emerging as IoT popularity grows,” reveals that huge opportunities are balanced against significant cybersecurity concerns.
“The proliferation of IoT is being led by enterprises, and they continue to require a unified endpoint management strategy that is capable of scaling to handle billions of connected devices,” said Marty Beard, Chief Operating Officer, BlackBerry. “We are focused on securing the EoT because for all its promise, the expanding adoption of connected things means that companies are only as secure as their most vulnerable endpoint.”
Survey respondents represent a wide range of vertical industries, including financial services, government and healthcare. Below are some key themes from the research:
• Seventy-eight percent of respondents indicated interest in a solution that allows them to manage all their endpoints in one place.
• Sixty-three percent noted that security is the “top” concern regarding digital technologies and processes. However, only a little over one-third (37 percent) actually have a formal digital transformation strategy in place.
• Organizations are least prepared against external threats, with nearly two-thirds (61 percent) citing hackers and cyberwarfare as top concerns.
• Thirty-nine percent of respondents from very large organizations (more than 10,000 employees) revealed that a lack of collaboration among internal departments is a potential barrier to unified endpoint management, while 51 percent of mid-sized organizations felt the same way.
Marty Beard and Brian Partridge, VP of IoT at 451 Research will host a webinar on Thursday, October 19, 2017 at 1:00 PM ET to discuss the key findings from the survey and provide insight on how companies can manage and secure the expanding Enterprise of Things. Media are encouraged to register here.
The new whitepaper is available for download at www.blackberry.com/enterprise-of-things. For more information about BlackBerry’s EOT solutions, please visit www.blackberry.com/enterprise.
PRESS RELEASE:
LocusLabs Expands Capabilities of Mapping Application With IoT Platform from Acuity Brands
Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) has announced LocusLabs, Inc. has joined the Atrius Internet of Things (IoT) partner ecosystem. LocusLabs plans to enable its location-as-a-service platform to take advantage of the Atrius IoT platform’s location-based services (LBS) and indoor positioning services (IPS). LocusMaps, the LocusLabs indoor mapping and navigation application, powers navigation in hundreds of millions of mobile devices used at airports, retail malls, multi-floor buildings and campuses, making it easy to search, discover and navigate large, complex indoor spaces.
Atrius Navigator, the Atrius platform service software development kit, enables the development of mobile applications that can use data from the Atrius Sensory Network to provide LBS and IPS. The Atrius Sensory Network is powered by luminaires enabled with Atrius, featuring embedded Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and Visible Light Communication (VLC) technologies, acting as all-in-one access points for indoor and adjacent outdoor environments. The benefit of using the Atrius IoT platform for indoor positioning is that the communication technology is embedded in LED luminaires, making it unnecessary to have additional components like stand-alone beacons that require separate installation, maintenance and power.
Leveraging the Atrius IoT platform, LocusLabs plans to develop upgraded mapping and pathing applications that deliver a superior navigation experience for visitors, while enhancing business operations through improved traffic flows and faster time-to-destination. “Through its Atrius IoT platform offering, Acuity Brands is incorporating location-based services into the fabric of buildings, and a ubiquitous solution is exactly what is needed going forward for an optimal user experience,” said Campbell Kennedy, CEO & Co-Founder of LocusLabs, Inc. “By using Atrius IoT services and sensory network, LocusLabs’ location-as-a-service software platform can deliver the most accessible solution in the market for all building stakeholders to leverage their smart building investment.”
PRESS RELEASE:
Altizon, Cross Co. ISG Team Up to Accelerate Industrial IoT Adoption, Digital Transformation
Altizon, a global industrial IoT (IIoT) platform company creating connected intelligence for enterprises and Cross Company Integrated Systems Group (ISG), a systems integrator specializing in critical industrial controls and data solutions, has announced their plans to help accelerate the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) and digital transformation technology for the industrial enterprise.
With Altizon’s Datonis, the highly advanced Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform for smart manufacturing, Cross Company ISG will enable customers to quickly and more easily implement Smart Manufacturing initiatives, modernize Asset Performance Management, and pioneer new business models for service delivery.
The Datonis IIoT platform accelerates IT/ Operational Technology (OT) integrations by connecting diverse industrial assets and launching new applications over a hybrid infrastructure using edge computing, sensors, advanced in-stream analytics, and deep learning capabilities.
“Altizon’s Datonis is widely recognized and recommended by leading industry analyst firms, and is a massively scalable platform with support for device management, big-data analytics and machine learning with end-to-end security,” said Richard Consoli, President of Cross Company ISG. “Coupled with our 25 years of experience in design, implementation and systems integration, our alliance with Altizon will enable us to rapidly connect machines, devices and sensors – providing our customers with real-time actionable insights that deliver real value and ROI.”
According to a recent survey by Gartner, Inc., organizations are keen to integrate IoT and IT technologies (sensors, data stewardship, security and analytics) into OT systems. Since IoT deployment is still in the early stages, most organizations don’t yet have the skills, expertise or time to drive the IT/OT alignment requirements. Gartner predicts that 50% of OT service providers will create key partnerships with IT-centric providers for IoT offerings by 2020.[1]
“At Altizon, we continue to accelerate frictionless deployment of IoT technologies across the industrial enterprise by partnering with a global network of systems integrators, the latest of which is Cross Company ISG,” said Vinay Nathan, CEO of Altizon. “With Datonis, companies can monitor and control all of their smart manufacturing systems while optimizing productivity of their personnel and economizing resources to bring their finished products to market with increased accuracy and at improved costs.”