IoT GUIDE

Consumer media is awash with articles concerning the Internet of Things (IoT) and how smarter devices, the things in the IoT, are changing the world. Another hot tech topic is the cloud in all of its forms: cloud storage, cloud-based apps, cloud-powered mobile devices, cloud-hosted virtual machines and other applications.

Yet the IoT and the cloud have much more to offer than consumer-grade conveniences. A fusion of IoT and cloud technologies has specific applications in the industrial automation sector, creating the Industrial IoT (IIoT). Unquestionably, cloud-based supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software provides an ideal gateway to deliver practical and actionable IIoT information to those who need it.

Most IoT discussions to date have focused more on commercial than industrial implementations, but according to a GE/Accenture white paper, this focus should be changed to favor the IIoT because “data created by industrial equipment such as wind turbines, jet engines and MRI machines ... holds more potential business value on a size-adjusted basis than other types of Big Data associated with the social Web, consumer Internet and other sources.”1

Oftentimes consumer-focused discussions about the IoT often revolve around refrigerators and coffee pots chattering with each other, or maybe reporting some details to their users. However, for IoT applications to move beyond curiosities and parlor tricks and into the realm of usefulness, the bits and bytes of available data must be served up within a pertinent context and formed into actionable information.

Of course, the cloud is great for uploading photos and downloading music. But to achieve greater productivity instead of just providing entertainment, we must look at new ways to leverage the unique capabilities offered by the cloud. Cloud-based SCADA software is an established product with the features required to transport, store and present useful IIoT data.

Harnessing cloud capabilities to harvest IIoT factory data and then distribute it to users is a powerful combination. Cloud-based SCADA software is an ideal platform to act as an IIoT gateway, empowering customers to use information and reap significant benefits. This White Paper will examine how industrial data can be transformed into IIoT information via cloud-based SCADA solutions, and will show the many advantages of doing so.

You can read and download the full report on Advantech here