by Gary Mintchell | Mar 2, 2017 | Automation, Internet of Things, Operations Management
Dell introduced the Dell Edge Gateway 3000 Series at Mobile World Congress. This new platform features a form factor for harsh environments and small spaces. The 3000 Series includes three unique models targeted specifically for use cases and embedded solutions in the industrial automation, energy, transportation, and digital signage markets. With these Edge Gateways, customers will be able to securely transfer and analyze important data at the edge of the network to glean real-time intelligence from the physical world. Ideal deployments include a vehicle, a refrigerated trailer, a remote oil pump in the desert, digital signs in an elevator or inside of the HVAC units on a rooftop of a casino.
Customers are looking for faster, real-time analysis of the massive amount of data produced by devices on their networks, to perform immediate, smart decision-making. For some, it’s too expensive to move all the data from the edge of the network near the devices to the data center. Computing at the edge helps determine which data sets are interesting, relevant and need to be sent back to the data center or the cloud for further analytics and longer term storage, saving bandwidth and reducing costs and security concerns. Dell offers a complete edge to core to cloud portfolio of infrastructure for Industrial IoT solutions that includes everything from Edge Gateways, security and manageability solutions, data center infrastructure and connectivity.
“As the number of connected devices becomes more ubiquitous, we know that intelligent computing at the edge of the network is critical. The IoT continues to enhance customer experience, drive business growth and improve lives, making it central to organizations’ digital transformation strategies,” said Andy Rhodes, Vice President and General Manager, Internet of Things, Dell. “The small and mighty 3000 Series opens up new opportunities for our customers and partners to get smarter with their data and make big things happen.”
The Gateway 3000 Series joins Dell’s award-winning line of IoT-enabling hardware including the Edge Gateway 5000 Series and Embedded Box PC 3000 and 5000 Series. It comes with the Dell Command Suite and an optional upgrade to remote manageability through Dell’s Edge Device Manager, allowing customers to manage all their Dell IoT devices through a single tool.
All solutions benefit from Dell’s end-to-end support services, including the base Limited Hardware Warranty, or optional Dell ProSupport for up to five years, and Dell Deployment services. ProSupport on the Gateway 3000 Series includes proactive, automated support, 24/7 access to ProSupport engineers and Advanced Exchange Service to minimize downtime with a quick unit replacement. There’s also pre-qualification with over 65 technology and service providers in the award-winning Dell IoT Solutions Partner Program; inclusion in more than 20 scalable, repeatable IoT blueprints; and financing options through Dell Financial Services.
The Gateway 3000 Series is designed by Dell’s expert team of rugged product engineers and put through a rigorous 10-step testing process. The product line was designed for scale per tens of thousands of hours of feedback through customer advisory councils, industry consortiums and market feedback.
The rugged 3000 Series is complementary to its big brother, the 5000 Series, which is designed to excel in fixed use cases that require modular expansion, large sensor networks and more advanced edge analytics. The 3000 Series is ideal for both fixed and mobile use cases requiring smaller sensor networks, tight spaces and more simple analytics.
“The new Dell Edge Gateway 3000 Series powered by Intel provides powerful edge analytics in a compact form factor. The series bridges the data needs of traditional operational technology with the manageability demands of IT,” Ken Caviasca, general manager, IoT Group (IOTG), Intel. “We’re excited to continue our collaboration with Dell to help our collective IoT customers connect what matters.”
All three models include:
- Intel Atom processor
- 2 GB RAM and 8 GB eMMC storage (32 GB and SD card for additional storage options)
- Ethernet, USB, certified for Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE
- Integrated 3G or 4G LTE cellular options for select countries
- Support for hot or cold operating temperature extremes from -30°C to 70°C
- Integrated digital GPS, accelerometers, and atmospheric pressure sensors
- Support for a wide input power range from 12-57 VDC (with vehicle transient voltage protection)
- Ability to be powered via Power-over-Ethernet (PoE)
- An ignition pin for easy operation while connected to a battery powered device
- Dell factory support for Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSB 2016 and Ubuntu Core 16
Differentiating features between the three models include:
- Industrial Automation and Energy Management, Model 3001; Multi-function I/O port and programmable serial ports (RS-485/422/232).
- Transportation and Logistics, Model 3002; CAN bus for land/marine protocols, integrated ZigBee for mesh sensor networks.
- Digital Signage and Retail, Model 3003; Display Port output for video displays (2560×1600) and 3.5mm line in/line out for quality audio streaming.
The Dell Edge Gateway 3000 Series will be available in early summer 2017 in select countries, starting at $399 USD. For more information visit www.dell.com/Gateway3000 or contact a Dell EMC OEM Solutions representative.
“At Emerson, we need simple, scalable and secure connectivity solutions to help our customers collect data from their industrial equipment and make better business decisions based on that data,” said Mike Boudreaux, Director, Connected Services, Emerson. “Working with Dell, we can move faster to bring new reliability and performance services to market. Our work together has enhanced our capabilities, and is a perfect example of how OT and IT partners are critical to success for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) deployments. The Edge Gateway 3000 Series will enable Emerson to create new innovative solutions that deliver real outcomes to our customers’ operations.”
by Gary Mintchell | Nov 7, 2016 | Internet of Things
Dell Technologies Internet of Things group just keeps expanding. It’s differentiating strategy is to leverage an array of partnerships building upon the Dell IoT platform. Here are more examples.
Dell announced that Systems Integrators (SIs) have now been added to the Dell Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions Partner Program, which currently has an ecosystem of over 50 Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). These new additions to the program include Action Point, Datatrend Technologies, L&T Technology Services and Mobiliya.
This program expansion is reflective of Dell’s effort to build a holistic ecosystem of IoT solutions that span industries – from energy to manufacturing to transportation. With the addition of SIs, there’s now a broader selection of partners that can help customers navigate the fragmented IoT landscape, identify the right solution to address their needs and take projects from proof of concept to a robust deployment.
“We’re passionate about providing our customers with a comprehensive IoT ecosystem to help them innovate and move an idea from concept to reality,” said Jeff Brown, Vice President, Global IoT and Embedded PC Sales, Dell EMC, Global OEM Solutions. “By adding SIs into the mix, we are helping to bridge the gap between IT and OT, and transform IoT into a profitable market reality.”
Based on TECHnalysis Research’s Enterprise IoT survey, regardless of company size, many organizations are interested in working with systems and operations integrators that specialize in IoT. Dell’s continued expansion of its IoT Partner Program is designed to offer customers a broad spectrum of industry-specific expertise in conjunction with Dell’s reputation as a global leader in computing technology.
The program combines a global, multi-tiered (Executive/Premier, Associate/Preferred, Registered) network of experienced technology providers including SIs, ISVs, and IHVs, all supported by Dell’s broad portfolio of IoT-enabling assets, which are designed to help organizations develop, deploy and maintain leading-edge IoT solutions. By joining the Dell IoT Solutions Partner Program, partners benefit from:
• Increased market awareness backed by a reputable global leader in computing technology.
• Access to a robust and reliable product portfolio, including purpose-built, intelligent edge gateways and embedded PCs, security and manageability tools, data center and cloud infrastructure.
• Opportunities for incremental business growth and acceleration through Dell’s multiple partner tiers.
Supporting Quotes:
• “From our viewpoint Dell is the only global technology partner that offers as comparable and as comprehensive a range of IoT optimised solutions from the edge to the data centre to the cloud,” reflects Head of IoT, Ivan O’Connor from Action Point. “Dell’s clear commitment to and focus on being at the vanguard of IoT gives us as an IoT systems integrator and a long standing Dell partner the ability and the competitive advantage to build out cutting edge new IoT solutions to transform our clients businesses.”
• “Datatrend is excited to work with Dell IoT partners and customers to scale and accelerate their speed to market, delivering friction-free IoT solution deployment, including end-to-end IT infrastructure integration, connectivity and device installation, from data center to the edge of network,” said Charlie Cox, President, Datatrend Technologies.
• “Our partnership with Dell will help engineer IoT solutions for global businesses to innovate, create fascinating customer experiences and enable new revenue streams. We have over 30 R&D labs that specialize in smart product design, device and cloud security, sensor engineering and advanced data analytics, said Amit Chadha, Chief Sales Officer & Whole-time Director, L&T Technology Services. “Our combined approach with Dell is simple – build on your existing devices and systems to make them smart, secure, and interoperable. Together, the possibilities we can create for the entire technology ecosystem are limitless.”
• “We are extremely excited to be collaborating with Dell on their innovative IoT Solutions Partner Program. With IoT demanding robust offerings across the technology spectrum, these kinds of partnerships are incredibly important,” says CEO of Mobiliya Krish Kupathil. “For IoT initiatives, Mobiliya provides its device-to-cloud system integration expertise along with deep knowledge in various IoT protocols and security. The combined competencies of both companies will provide significant value-add to customers across different industries.”
by Gary Mintchell | Oct 26, 2016 | Events, Internet of Things, News
The conference was all about digital transformation. Company leaders must begin thinking about digitally transforming their companies or they face disruption from digital startups.
This was Dell EMC World—the first user conference after the major acquisition of EMC by Dell forming Dell Technologies. Touting the size and breadth of the combined companies, Michael Dell began the meeting, “Let the transformation begin.”
A poll of business leaders returned these sobering thoughts:
- 45% may be out of business in 3 years;
- 48% 2-3 years see big changes;
- 78% digital startups will be a threat
As Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE put it, “You go to bed an industrial company and wake up a digital and analytics company.”
“Dell EMC will be the trusted provider of essential infrastructure for the next industrial revolution,” proclaimed Dell further into his keynote.
I attended the conference at the invitation of the Dell social influencer marketing group. Press conference attendance broke down as 41% analysts, 41% press, and 18% social influencers. They expect the press number to decline and influencer number to increase over time.
Michael Dell in press conference: “Internet of Everything helps customers embrace the digital future.” Dell also sees the need to help customers move from CapEx to OpEx. This need financial need from customers was echoed the next week at the Emerson Exchange. Companies in many industries at this time have slashed capital expenditures. Any movement forward in facility and process improvements must be done through operations expenditures.
This was my second Dell World. The Internet of Things group is just over a year old. Its unveiling was last year’s conference. This year’s presence was greatly enhanced. The booth layout simulated an ice cream factory (see diagram). Emerson Automation was represented (along with partners OSIsoft, Microsoft, and Dell) showing valves, wireless transmitters, date ported to a database into the Microsoft Azure cloud using a Dell IoT Gateway.
Emerson’s Jim Cahill wrote this section of the process in his Emerson Process Experts blog.
Dell has taken an embedded PC platform, added its services, mixed in a variety of partners and baked up an IoT solution. Other partners included Air Watch, Eigen Innovations, V5 Systems, IBM, KMC Controls, PTC Kepware, ELM Fieldsight. Solutions included quality, security, data communications, analytics.
As I have written several times over the past year, Dell is serious about the manufacturing space. The IoT platform is designed to leverage Dell’s vast IT contacts to achieve IT/OT convergence from the IT side.
Dell Technologies new products
Dell Technologies is a serious technology player on many fronts. I’ll just highlight some of the many announcements it made during the conference.
Michael Dell was insistent that integration of Dell and EMC was achieving rapid results. Many of the products announced resulted from just that integration.
From the press release:
Global business leaders agreed that moving toward a cloud model, expanding software development capabilities and enabling faster innovation and deeper insights from data are key strategies to digital transformation. However companies are struggling to evolve their data centers, with 69% saying they are being held back by too many traditional applications. They are challenged with reducing sprawl and spend, while bringing systems up-to-date. New products and solutions announced this week at Dell EMC World are designed to help organizations accelerate their transformation and manage costs.
“To ensure that they’re not “Uber’d”, “Airbnb’d” or “Tesla’d” in their marketplace, today’s organizations must embark on a digital transformation. To truly realize their digital future, we believe the vast majority of organizations will transform their IT through a hybrid cloud strategy, ” said David Goulden, president, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell EMC. “The first ‘no regrets’ step is to modernize their data center through the most advanced converged infrastructure, servers, storage, data protection, and cybersecurity technologies to name a few. This week we are launching a wave of new products and solutions designed as the building blocks for this endeavor.”
Announced this week at Dell EMC World:
- #1 Scale-Out NAS System Dell EMC Isilon Goes All-Flash For Unstructured Data
Dell EMC will announce a new member of the Isilon product family, combining the high performance of flash technology with the #1 scale-out NAS platform in the industry. Dell EMC Isilon All-Flash is designed to help IT organizations modernize their infrastructure and deliver on the capabilities of a digital business.
- Dell EMC Extends Common User Experience to SC Series
Dell EMC will announced it has boosted the capabilities of its mid-market proven SC Series (formerly Compellent) storage arrays by making it interoperable with the world’s leading portfolio of storage management, mobility and data protection solutions formerly only available to EMC customers.
- Extraordinary Dell EMC Partner Program To Provide Transformational Business Value and OpportunityDell EMC announced a preview of the company’s new and highly anticipated channel partner program. The Dell EMC Partner Program provides an unprecedented business opportunity for partners and validates Dell EMC’s commitment to the channel. Built on three core tenets—to be Simple, Predictable, and Profitable—the new program strategy ensures partners have ample opportunity, business continuity and commensurate profitability no matter their program tier.
by Gary Mintchell | Sep 21, 2016 | Automation, Internet of Things, News
Hannover Messe brought a slice of its automation trade show to this year’s International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS)—a venue known for huge machine tools. This was the second time, and it seems to be gaining some traction. Most exhibitors seemed to be central European, but there was a presence from a number of other North American automation companies not to mention many from Asia.
I stopped by a large number of stands. Below are five that had press releases new for the show. Opto 22 was at the show with an opportunity to see its recently released product with a RESTful API in the real plastic, so to speak. That plus a promised MQTT support maintains Opto’s usual spot as an early adopter, if not first adopter in many cases, of IT technologies in its OT products. I also stopped by to talk with Tom Burke and Stefan Hoppe at the OPC Foundation stand. Its news was reported here last week.
(My two-day silence was caused by travel to California and participating in the Inductive Automation Ignition Customer Conference. More on that later.)
Companies addressed below:
- Dell Technologies
- Beckhoff Automation
- Bedrock Automation
- Universal Robots
- Carbon (3D printing)
Dell Technologies
Appearing at IMTS in the automation hall for the first time, Dell Technologies showed its IoT Gateway and Embedded capabilities along with several partners that help it provide a complete Internet of Things solution from data collection through storage, analysis, and uploading to the cloud.
The major solution thrust for Dell thus far in its first year of existence has been predictive analytics especially for predictive maintenance applications. One of the featured partners was IBM Watson, using the famed supercomputer power for predictive analytics and EAP—its predictive maintenance solution.
Eigen showed a real-time quality application with in-process inspection. Some real-time analytics are performed in the gateway before sending data asynchronously to the cloud for further analysis.
Software AG, a partner from the beginning, provides a predictive maintenance software module that provided high speed streaming analytics in an ice cream factory. The module can also create service requests, see anomalies, order spare parts.
Beckhoff Automation
Check me out in these cool Microsoft Hololense Augmented Reality (AR) glasses. In this demo, I could see live data streaming from a robotic application. Beckhoff also showed support for MQTT and AMQP transport technologies (it also has OPC UA embedded), an Internet of Things coupler to Microsoft Azure cloud, and power over Ethernet on EtherCat P.
Bedrock Automation
Bedrock Automation has built an entirely new automation and control platform from the ground up. Security is designed in, even to the point of designing and manufacturing its own chips. It offers single, double, and triple redundancy, IEC 61131 programming along with a powerful function block editor that brings it into the DCS world. And it features software configurable I/O, software configurable serial module (5 to a card can be RS-232, RS-422, RS-485), and software configurable Ethernet card (think Profinet, EtherNet/IP, etc.).
At IMTS it announced its new intelligent, standalone power supply. The SPS.500 Secure Power Supply provides deep trust cyber security authentication and onboard intelligence for diagnostics and secure Ethernet communications. Encased in a NEMA 4X sealed aluminum enclosure, users of any PLC, SCADA RTU, PAC or DCS can retrofit to the new SPS.500 inside or outside enclosures, anywhere in a plant and in harsh environments.
Additional features include:
- Ethernet and OPC/UA communications, enabling local or remote monitoring of power supply health for greater system reliability and plant safety
- A powerful cyber secure microprocessor and onboard memory for diagnostics and software-defined functionality
- A built-in redundancy module, which simplifies installation and increases reliability by eliminating the need for an external redundancy module
- Two built-in, software-configurable Form C contact relays, which provide operating and diagnostic status
Universal Robots
One of the big things in automation this year is collaborative robots, or cobos. A leader in this area is a new entrant—Universal Robots. This Danish company showed its products at IMTS. It also announced two unique new initiatives.
- Universal Robots+: an ecosystem of products and applications, users choosing accessories, end-effectors, and software solutions from Universal Robots+, both distributors and end-users, get high security and predictability that applications will run well from the start.
- +YOU: a unique, free-of-charge developer program, offering a powerful marketing and support platform for the flourishing eco-system of UR-robot application developers.
Alongside the launch of Universal Robots+, a new update for the robot arm’s operating software has been published. The new release (Software Version 3.3) includes updates such as the Profinet IO device functionality. The new compatibility with Profinet protocols opens up numerous additional areas of deployment and activities for robots. “A key feature of the update supporting the Universal Robots+ platform is the ability for providers to now offer solutions that interface seamlessly with the UR software,” says Østergaard.
Carbon 3D
Carbon 3D announced new funding from strategic investors toward the goal of bringing additive technology to more customers transitioning from prototyping-only use cases, to applications requiring final production quality parts with great surface finish, broad and expanding material options and the plans to transition to mainstream manufacturing. A Silicon Valley 3D printing company working at the intersection of hardware, software and molecular science, Carbon also plans to offer its proprietary CLIP technology internationally and is accelerating production to meet worldwide demand for its M1 printer.
The expansion is supported by $81 million from new investors GE Ventures, BMW, Nikon and JSR, as well as existing investors, bringing Carbon’s funding total to $222 million. More details of additional strategic investors involved in this round of financing will be announced in 2017 along with details of their manufacturing projects that utilize Carbon’s technology.
by Gary Mintchell | Sep 8, 2016 | Internet of Things, News, Operations Management
Powering the Next Industrial Revolution. I was attending a virtual press/analyst conference on Sept. 7. Michael Dell formally introduced Dell Technologies. Talk of the Next Industrial Revolution is the last thing I expected to hear, but it fits with the company’s moves into Industrial Internet of Things and the data storage and analytics that accompany the concept. That company, the result of the combination with EMC, includes the familiar Dell (PCs and so forth), Dell EMC, Dell Services, and several publicly traded companies including VMware.
Dell also talked about the Internet of Everything along with the next Industrial Revolution and about how this new company changes the competitive landscape of the industry.
Why do we need to know?
I have been following Dell’s entry into the Industrial Internet of Things for almost a year now. It began with an intelligent gateway device introduced at last October’s Dell World. This device includes ports to bring sensor data into a local database with some analytic and visualization capabilities at the edge. It then can send the information to the cloud, to mobile or other visualization devices, and to other databases.
Dell has held a series of Think Tanks with technology providers and end users to explore how companies are using or are planning/preparing to use IIoT technologies to enhance their manufacturing businesses. This statement from the top of the organization certainly validates the effort. And the addition of EMC for even greater enterprise penetration should make the rest of the industry re-evaluate their positions.
Michael Dell’s Letter
Dell couldn’t contain his enthusiasm and superlatives while introducing this new powerhouse in computing, services, and enterprise. Here is the official letter:
Welcome to Dell Technologies, a unique family of businesses that provides the essential infrastructure for your organization to build its digital future, transform IT and protect your most important asset – information.
The largest parts of Dell Technologies will be very familiar to you. Our Client Solutions business, and our most well-known business, will continue to be known simply as Dell. Our Enterprise Solutions business, a real powerhouse in data center infrastructure, brings together the very best of Dell and EMC and will be known as Dell EMC. We have the services to provide strategic guidance and expertise to ensure you get the very best outcome from your investments, and we’re committed to providing you with unparalleled service and support. With that in mind, for now, there will be no change to your support interactions, processes, resources or contacts.
The rest of our family – Pivotal, RSA, SecureWorks, Virtustream and VMware – will continue to keep their independent identities and retain their freedom to develop their own ecosystems. That’s part of our commitment to providing you with choice. Importantly, we’ll also align our capabilities where it makes strategic sense to deliver integrated solutions in the areas that matter most to your future.
We stand at the very beginning of the Internet of Everything, an intelligent world pulsing with processing power and connectivity. It’s been called the next Industrial Revolution and the next quantum leap in human progress. By 2031, the number of connected nodes and devices will grow from 8 billion to 200 billion or more, about 25 times the number of people on the planet. All of these will create massive new sources of information. Using that information, in real time, to provide better insights and to build a better world is the greatest opportunity of our generation.
Dell Technologies exists to make that opportunity a reality for you. We are facing a future of infinite possibility. You’re going to cure cancer. You’re going to feed and water the world. You’re going to create jobs, and hope and opportunities on a global scale. Now is the time to dream big, think big and do big. Let the transformation begin!
What resides in the three core businesses?
Client Solutions
– Our Client Solutions business consists of Dell’s Client Solutions Group, which retains the Dell brand. Our Client Solutions offerings include hardware, such as desktop PCs, notebooks, 2-in-1s and thin clients, software, including end-point security, and peripherals, such as monitors, printers and projectors, as well as third-party software and peripherals.
Infrastructure Solutions
– Under the Dell EMC brand, we have combined EMC’s Information Infrastructure business and Dell’s Enterprise Solutions Group to create our Infrastructure Solutions Group, which includes RSA and Virtustream. Dell EMC will enable our enterprise customers’ digital transformation through our trusted hybrid cloud and big-data solutions, built upon a modern data center infrastructure that incorporates industry- leading converged infrastructure, servers, storage, and cybersecurity technologies.
Dell EMC Services – Dell EMC Services is a trusted advisor to our customers and partners, providing strategic guidance, technology expertise, and outstanding execution to drive business outcomes quickly and effciently for enterprises of all sizes and for users at work or play. From consulting and technology deployment, to education, support and asset disposition, we offer the most complete portfolio of technology and fnancial services available, addressing the diverse needs of enterprise and consumer customers with choice, fexibility and scale. Our global team of more than 60,000 Dell EMC and partner service experts in more than 165 countries stand ready to help customers digitally transform and modernize their IT with world-class capabilities spanning hardware, software, solutions and IT operations.
Dream Big
Dell stated during his presentation, “Dreaming big is always what Dell is about.” Completion of this acquisition is certainly implementing a big dream.
