Oracle is expanding its Internet of Things (IoT) offering with four new cloud-based services designed to help businesses incorporate connected devices and make the most of digital supply chains.
Oracle’s new cloud applications will help businesses monitor productivity, assets, fleets and individuals, and the announcement comes just a week after the software giant agreed a ‘Power IoT Ecosystem Partnership’ with telecoms equipment company Huawei.
Related: GE inks IIoT deals with Oracle, Deutsche Telekom
Sensors, workers, fleets and equipment
The new cloud applications integrate with Oracle’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) Cloud applications and include the following products:
- IoT Asset Monitoring Cloud: Monitors assets, utilization, availability, and data from connected sensors and creates incidents in the back-end SCM, ERP, or Service Clouds to automate workflows;
- IoT Connected Worker Cloud: Tracks employees to support safety, service, and regulatory compliance initiatives;
- IoT Fleet Monitoring Cloud: Monitors position and progress of passenger, service, and delivery vehicles and driver behavior;
- IoT Production Monitoring Cloud: Monitors production equipment to assess and predict manufacturing issues;
These applications share three common goals, according to Oracle executives. First comes device registration and the collection of data. Second is data processing; the point at which information becomes insight. And third is the connection of these insights to specific business processes. Advanced and predictive analytics can mold data into real-life insights, including predictive maintenance, diagnostic dashboards and increased real-time visibility.
Oracle seeks to modernize digital supply chain
Bhagat Nainani, group vice president of IoT applications development at Oracle, outlined the company’s vision on cloud applications for the IoT. “The world is becoming ever-more digital and IoT is the next step on that journey, delivering better customer experiences and helping organizations achieve a competitive advantage,” he said.
“Oracle IoT Applications enable businesses to leverage connected devices and equipment to modernize the digital supply chain.”
A statement from Oracle announcing the new cloud applications warns that businesses shying away from the latest developments could fall behind competitors:
“Organizations with the tools to integrate device data into business processes and applications can gain critical predictive insights and drive cost-effective actions. IoT solutions enable businesses to deliver innovative new services faster and with less risk to their customers.”
Related: Rackspace: IoT without analytics & cloud is a non-starter
Competition in IoT cloud services
The market for IoT cloud services is becoming increasingly competitive. Cisco bought IoT cloud provider Jasper last year, while Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, IBM and Google all have strong cloud offerings.
Last week, Oracle executive chairman and chief technology officer Larry Ellison released data that he claims show that the company’s cloud databases are “decades ahead” of those offered by Amazon.
“Oracle’s new technologies will drive the cloud databases and infrastructure of the future,” said Ellison. “Amazon are decades behind in every database area that matters, and their systems are more closed than mainframe computers.”