The Internet of Things is coming to businesses previously unable to harness its power, thanks to a collaboration between IBM and Cisco.
The two companies announced that they will be providing IoT capability at the edge of the network, the results of which will allow businesses in 'remote and autonomous' locations to use the services both in real time and for later analysis in the cloud.
The combined power of IBM's Watson IoT and business analytics with Cisco's edge analytics is designed to provide data analytics for companies in the industrial sector that operate on the edge of computer networks.
IBM says these companies are under time constraints but don't have the required amount of bandwidth. Such companies can include shipping and mining companies, factories and oil rigs.
IBM says The IoT and cloud data collection trend is a powerful tool, but companies need high bandwidth and connectivity to access them. With this new collaboration, companies can more accurately monitor and plan for equipment health and upgrades. The new collaboration could also possibly decrease the costs of maintenance by 50% and increase productivity by 25%.
"For an oil rig in a remote location or a factory where critical decisions have to be taken immediately, uploading all data to the cloud is not always the best option, says Harriet Green, general manager, IBM Watson IoT, Commerce - Education.
"By coming together, IBM and Cisco are taking these powerful IoT technologies the last mile, extending Watson IoT from the cloud to the edge of computer networks, helping to make these strong analytics capabilities available virtually everywhere, always," Green adds.
The Cisco-IBM partnership allows companies to use previously unavailable data to make real-time decisions, Mala Anand, senior vice president of the Cisco Data - Analytics Platforms Group, says.
"With the vast amount of data being created at the edge of the network, using existing Cisco® infrastructure to perform streaming analytics is the perfect way to cost-effectively obtain real-time insights. Our powerful technology provides customers with the flexibility to combine this edge processing with the cognitive computing power of the IBM Watson IoT Platform," Anand continues.
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