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Automation Technologies 2/2016

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Automation Technologies 2/2016

How much cloud

How much cloud automation technology needs? Cloud Computing is becoming ever more important for industry. Siemens has therefore brought the “MindSphere – Siemens Cloud for Industry” into the market. The platform will initially be available as a beta release, which will be continuously further developed. It has been designed as an open eco system that industrial companies can use as the basis for their own digital services, such as in the fields of preventive maintenance, energy data management or resource optimization. Machine manufacturers and plant constructors in particular can use the platform to monitor machine fleets for service purposes throughout the world, reduce their downtimes and consequently offer new business models. MindSphere also forms the basis for data-based services from Siemens, such as for the preventive maintenance of machine tools or integrated drive systems. By expanding this platform Siemens is driving forward the digitalization of industry. MindSphere is an important part of the Digital Enterprise Strategy. Dr. Florian Beil, Head of Technical Sales and Mobilization Data Services, Siemens, Erlangen/Germany NEWS AND MARKETS Companies need a sound data management strategy, otherwise they risk being soon incapable of effectively managing all of their Big Analog Data. Therefore, best-in-class measurement and analytics solutions must have two fundamental capabilities: 1) edge analytics and 2) smart enterprise management and analytics. Which of these methods is used depends on how time-critical it is to get insight from the big data. Real-time applications require analytics directly at the edge. In less time-critical scenarios analytics can move to a smart enterprise solution, such as data centers or the cloud. Once captured from smart systems, the data has to be pushed to the enterprise where it is effectively managed, consolidated, and analyzed at a large-scale. Finding new correlations and predicting future behaviors is key to maintaining a competitive edge. To make such data-driven decisions, companies will need to improve how they collect and analyze data on the edge and manage and analyze data within the enterprise (such as in the cloud). Rahman Jamal, Global Technology & Marketing Director, National Instruments, München/Germany AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES 2/2016

Many scenarios revolving around the Internet of Things are based on cloudbased applications that wouldn’t seem to be suitable for general automation technology at first. But upon closer inspection, cloud technology opens up new, simple, and reliable ways of integrating sensor data from automation systems into other IT systems. This way, up-to-date information about the plant or system can be made available for IT solutions to analyze, which in turn can trigger preventative maintenance measures. The analysis data not only comes from a single system, but in some cases, from applications being used worldwide. A smart cloud system therefore has the potential to understand this data, learn from it, and recognize important interrelationships. This is why automation is set to drive demand for significantly more cloud solutions in the future. CPU-intensive technologies are also becoming more prevalent in the automation environment, and are increasingly in need of scalable, reliable, and highly available platforms that would allow data to be identified and analyzed. Arno Martin Fast, B.Eng., Product Manager, Phoenix Contact Electronics, Bad Pyrmont/Germany What I mean by that is that the advantage of quick scalability which the cloud offers needs to be balanced against potential security risks. A public cloud solution may be chosen if the “public” needs access. Within a B2B manufacturing environment this may be the exception. On-premise or private (extended partner private) solutions may do the job just fine. But be honest: Is your private on-premise solution really more secure than the public cloud? If you need to go public consider hosting your data within the European Union. We, the “Industrial Data Intelligence Group” of Softing Industrial Automation help customers optimize their production on the basis of data gathered in and around their factory. This can be done on-premise, or with help of a private or public cloud. By gathering and keeping raw data within the factory – on the edge that is – huge volumes of data are not unnecessarily transfered via the always limited bandwidth infrastructure. Processed data may be shared with a business partner on a private or public cloud. Either way- the customer decides. Peter Seeberg, Business Development Manager Industrial Data Intelligence, Softing Industrial Automation, Haar/Germany AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES 2/2016

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