Cisco IoT Solution: The Platform for the Next Industrial Wave.
It’s been almost a year since I began working more closely with Operational Technologies (OT) integrators. They are a fascinating group of talented engineers who help customers daily in tasks beyond their core business. These groups of companies work with multiple vendors to create the foundations of modern industrial platforms.
From giant food and beverage companies to small factories bending aluminum, from the largest oil companies to small truck delivery services in small towns worldwide, these heroes work day in and day out to keep critical businesses running. These companies are experts in automation, control systems, physical security, lighting, power, sensors, and in the last few years, most of them have begun embarking on the robot wave as well. They run a tight ship, knowing that their services keep factories running, trains moving and oil pumping. Almost every enterprise in the world depends on these OT integrators to support their business. As a result, nearly everyone I have met possesses vast knowledge and expertise. They rely on resources that their customers trained – ex-employees who know the operations inside and out.
We at Cisco recognize this talent, and we have partnered with some of the best and brightest to bring the next level of technology into their field of expertise. We found that our OT partners had a good understanding of networking, which has helped them connect multiple technology pieces at customer sites. The journey has been incredible as we jointly determine how their knowledge and expertise, coupled with Cisco’s IoT solution, can provide better and more robust results to our mutual customers. In the new industrial revolution, data and information are the code to decipher. The path can be a challenging one, as the evolution to a data-driven platform is uncharted territory to most VPs of operations, but it requires some ingenuity.
For example, a new Cisco OT partner recently got a call from one of its customers. The customer required a couple of new sensors to be installed on a new production line. In the past, this partner said they would typically hang up, prepare a quote, send it over, wait for an order, and dispatch a technician to do the work and be done with it. With the new skills they learned, they started to ask about the sensors and the new line and how the information was collected, and how flexible that network was. They learned about the challenges the customer faced in increasing the adoption of new devices and their daily lack of visibility of all the factory changes. The discussion evolved to a level where they had to bring in more senior personnel. The conversation then took an interesting turn when the partner mentioned they could connect several parts of the factories and incorporate visibility of assets and levels of cybersecurity.
From that simple call, our Partner today is embarking on a new project that brings Cisco IoT Switches Catalyst IE to connect from Level Zero to Level Three across the factory, and Cisco Cyber Vision that will incorporate operation visibility of the production assets while providing levels of Cybersecurity the customer never thought possible. Along with our IoT Experts, the new topics our partners is touching upon includes asset monitoring with Cisco Asset Vision, how to securely and more efficiently send data back to corporate with Cisco SD-WAN Solutions, Cisco IoT Industrial Wireless coverage inside the harsh factory environment, and lastly, how to collect and distribute data to be analyzed using Cisco Edge Intelligence.
If you are an Operational Technologies integrator, don’t let the next industrial wave pass you by. Empower your customers to realize the value of their data securely with Cisco’s IoT solution. If you are a user on the operational side, know how Cisco and its partners are building the new industrial wave platform. Cisco IoT is so much more than switches and routers; it is the key to unlock the power of data in your operations.