German data-centric software engineering firm Software AG has added to the list of firms it can partner with for industrial IoT (IIoT), by now snuggling up to the equally Germanic mechanical and plant engineering specialist, Dürr AG. Software AG has already this year formed an IoT alliance with Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei.
To the partnership details then (or as they say in Germany, die Partnerschaftsdetails): Software AG says it will now work with Dürr’s cloud-ready IoT platform to create the basis for a jointly developed open IoT framework that defines necessary capabilities and integration interfaces.
What actually happens here is the coming together of a set of software constructs, designed to work specifically in industrial IoT deployments. Engineered (on the software side) to be able to ingest data flows characterized by huge volumes, time-stamped data types and monitoring alerts from heavy civil engineering equipment, Dürr has created what it likes to label ‘the IoT-ready cloud framework’.
Software AG brings plenty to the party, too. As a data integration, process management, in-memory data and real-time analytics player focused on enterprise architecture management, the company can now dovetail its own analytics functions with Dürr’s breadth of functionality and, in theory at least, the two firms can create a total offering that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Control & evaluation of production
According to Software AG, with Dürr’s new cloud-ready IoT platform, it will be possible to control and evaluate production processes digitally on the basis of real-time big data.
Dürr says it is targeting growth through new digital services and that the partnership between itself and Software AG underscores the global engineering quality label ‘Industry 4.0 – Made in Digital Germany’, initiated by Software AG at CeBIT 2017 in Hanover, Germany.
“Under our digital@DÜRR strategy, we are implementing a set of IoT solutions at Dürr across all divisions. We chose Software AG as a strategic partner due to the core IoT and integration capabilities of its Digital Business Platform,” said Dr. Jochen Weyrauch, member of the board of management of Dürr AG.
“Our open IoT framework will enable us to bring innovative IoT customer solutions and services to the market rapidly”.
Read more: Software AG, data analytics in the realm of the unknown
Vorsprung durch IoT-technik?
The questions we must ask ourselves here are first, could Software AG have evolved some of these more process-centric technologies itself, and second, will the two firms be able to pull of an internal integration process unhindered by the nuances of incompatibility that come from two separate codebases that have previously existed in exclusion from one another?
Finally, if the two firms do get it right, could this coming together represent some kind of new Vorsprung durch technik for the IoT?
It’s tough to answer all these questions at this early stage of the relationship. But Germans are notoriously good good at engineering internal combustion engines, carefully sliced pretzels stuffed with meaty cheesy spreads and a good deal of enterprise software too. Pass the mustard, please.
Read more: Software AG: why streaming analytics matters to the IoT