by Gary Mintchell | Apr 4, 2014 | Operations Management, Software
Twice in a week—more news about companies incorporating the Cloud to expand the applications of their manufacturing software. In this release, Infor announced its use of Amazon Web Services Cloud.
Obviously proud of its new suite of products, the company notes, “Infor CloudSuite provides beautiful software with deep industry functionality and a flexible, subscription-based delivery model that significantly reduces upfront IT expenditure.”
Each industry suite within Infor CloudSuite is built by unifying multiple applications that historically were deployed independently to holistically support core business functions by industry. This core, along with fast and simple provisioning. Infor believes that this will “Change the way enterprise software is delivered to and consumed by customers.”
“SaaS today refers primarily to HCM, CRM or another edge application, never to mission-critical business operations,” said Charles Phillips, CEO of Infor. “Infor CloudSuite redefines cloud for the enterprise, delivering the first full suite of business applications purpose-built by industry running in a public cloud through Amazon Web Services.”
“Customers want help figuring out how to move more of their operations into the AWS Cloud. They want to shift their resources to focus on what they do best, rather than on the undifferentiated heavy lifting of managing IT and complex software,” said Andy Jassy, SVP, Amazon Web Services, Inc. “We are excited that Infor is addressing these needs using the AWS platform. Infor CloudSuite on AWS delivers a simplified and enhanced user experience, across a multitude of industries, and provides all the agility, elasticity, and cost benefits of the AWS Cloud to enterprise customers around the world.”
Infor will leverage the AWS cloud infrastructure to allow customers to take advantage of Amazon’s expertise and economies of scale to access resources when they need them, on demand and with auto-scaling built into the Infor applications. Infor is in the process of consolidating existing subscribers and transitioning current internal infrastructure to the AWS platform. AWS provides services in 10 Regions, with 25 Availability Zones and 51 Amazon CloudFront Edge locations globally.
“AWS has the best and most advanced cloud infrastructure in the world, providing a delivery model, cost structure, and focus on operational excellence that perfectly complements and enhances our products,” said Phillips. “Moreover, the tie between Infor and AWS is strengthened through a common focus on customer experience, rapid-pace of innovation, and standards-based architecture.”
Infor plans to roll out industry suites, delivered on AWS, throughout 2014, beginning this spring with Infor CloudSuite Automotive, Infor CloudSuite Aerospace & Defense, and Infor CloudSuite Hospitality. Early this summer Infor expects to deliver Infor CloudSuite Corporate, with a core of best-in-class financials and Infor’s complete human capital management suite.
The Infor CloudSuite platform also includes:
- Analytics – CloudSuite Analytic Packs provide industry components, data models, and industry dashboards to transform information into actionable insights
- Technology – Infor ION middleware, Infor Ming.leTM social collaboration, Infor Analytics, and Infor Mongoose development platform
- Core Enterprise Management – Infor LN, Infor M3, Infor Lawson, Infor SyteLine, and Infor SunSystems
- High Value Extension Applications – Infor EAM, Infor Expense Management, Infor HR Service Delivery (Enwisen), Infor PeopleAnswers Talent Science, Infor Learning Management, Infor Workforce Management, Infor Epiphany Interaction Advisor, Infor Orbis Marketing Resource Management, Infor Product Configuration Management, Infor Supplier Exchange, and more.
by Gary Mintchell | Nov 28, 2013 | Automation, News, Organizations, Technology
Setting a national example of how communities can tackle 21st century utility challenges, the city of Holly Springs, Miss. has contracted GE to provide its subscription-based Solutions as a Service (SaaS) to modernize its utility grid. The SaaS package provides a complete, multi-utility solution for municipalities looking to modernize their utility infrastructure.
GE’s SaaS offering will provide the city of Holly Springs with advanced outage detection capabilities on its monitored meters, immediately notifying utility managers when an outage or power loss has been detected. In addition, its asset monitoring capabilities enable the city to register and monitor all meters connected to its utility network, logging and classifying any issues that may occur. This information is then analyzed and reported, providing insight into the operational state of the city’s utility assets and an in-depth view of the city’s energy usage.
Under the terms of the agreement, GE will provide Holly Springs with a pre-integrated package of services ranging from electric, water and gas meter services for the city’s advanced metering infrastructure to prepaid electric billing on a consumer web portal. The package also includes services such as outage detection, asset monitoring and support for the city’s grid—to the city of Holly Springs for 10 years.
“The improved reliability and efficiency that come along with a modernized grid are prime reasons why cities look to upgrade their utility infrastructure,” said Todd Jackson, product line leader—software solutions, GE’s Digital Energy business. “By equipping Holly Springs with our SaaS grid modernization technology, we have helped the city to establish an advanced utility network capable of meeting 21st century energy challenges.”
GE will supply the city of Holly Springs with a variety of advanced electric meter services and equipment including its proven and reliable I210+c single phase and KV2c polyphase meters. The remote disconnect functionality of these electric meters allows for greater efficiency for the city’s utility grid. In addition, GE will provide meter-monitoring services, equipping the city with accurate and up-to-date data on its utility network. This information also will be accessible to customers through GE’s Grid IQTM Solution Landing Portal, which displays historical metering and billing data and provides easily accessible residential customer connect/disconnect services.
“Together, Utility General Manager Don Hollingsworth and I have worked to seek out an all-encompassing grid-modernization solution to help unify and modernize our city’s electric, water and gas utility grids,” said Kelvin Buck, mayor of Holly Springs. ”Our search led us to GE’s Service as a Solution grid modernization package, which will provide our city with an advanced range of grid services and solutions, and will establish Holly Springs as a technological leader among U.S. utilities.”
GE’s Solutions as a Service package enables utilities to implement a prepaid billing system, easing the billing and payment process for customers and provides a Web-based solution that allows individuals to view and take control of their energy usage. This prepaid electric billing service provides payment options to consumers such as paying with cash, checks or credit/debit cards. It enables customers to pay their bills remotely using methods such as interactive voice response, text, email and the online payment portal set up for the city.
Introduced last year, GE’s SaaS—one of the company’s innovative Industrial Internet technologies—provides small- and mid-market utilities with the grid modernization technology they need without having to incur the overhead expenses associated with developing their own smart grid networks. As a cloud-based, fee-for-service grid management system, GE’s SaaS empowers utilities of all sizes to create modernized, interconnected grids to meet the needs of today’s ever-evolving businesses. GE’s Industrial Internet solutions establish a constant flow of communication between a business operation and its machines, enabling big data to be converted into real-time analytical insight, improving grid reliability and efficiency. Currently, GE’s SaaS is being utilized by both Electric Cities of Georgia (ECG)/City of Norcross, GA and the City of Leesburg, FL.
