Hannover Messe 2016
OnWindows Issue 6: Spring 2016
Hannover Messe, the trade fair for industrial technology, will take place from 25-29 April. Enrique Andaluz, director of strategic business development for Worldwide Discrete Manufacturing at Microsoft, outlines what Microsoft will be focusing on at the event
What will be the key themes that Microsoft will be focusing on at the event?
Industrial internet of things (IIoT) capabilities are maturing, and they are reaching a tipping point in terms of adoption. At Microsoft we recognize that IIoT is one significant part of digital transformation. Manufacturers can leverage technology advancements to accelerate transformation of their business processes, products, and even business models – for instance, virtual engineering services that couldn’t be done before now help manufacturers enjoy a 1:1 relationship with their customers. This means that as manufacturers adopt technology, they are less limited to advance their business practices. At Hannover Messe we’ll be focusing on the way in which solutions have evolved to be more intelligent and how we’re working with partners to facilitate a whole new way of doing business. We will build a booth that will showcase real-life customers and partner solutions that impact areas of the business like research, development and engineering; marketing, sales and customer experiences; as well as production operations and industrial services.
Will you be showcasing any key technologies?
We’ll showcase how our three clouds: O365; Azure; and CRMOL, interoperate to deliver IIoT promises like: dual-strategy; for instance, scenarios similar to an equipment manufacturer monitoring equipment in an OEM premise using innovative approaches. We will demonstrate the business value proposition of our recent launches that include the Azure IoT Suite and the Cortana Analytics Suite, amongst others. We know that the larger volume and greater variety of data as well as the velocity of computing are demanding new means of interaction of people and data. We’ll also be showcasing a wide range of devices as well as solutions that are facilitating a natural user experience such as augmented reality and voice and gesture-based solutions.
What is unique about the Microsoft offering in manufacturing?
There’s an intelligence revolution happening. The hyper-connected manufacturers are creating ecosystems of intelligence related to production, energy management and consumer services resulting in a new industrial IoT ecosystem. With our partners, we build and deliver Industrial IoT solutions to fuel the formation of intelligent ecosystems. The solutions are comprehensive in the sense that we offer capabilities to connect and ingest data from physical world to digital; we have a platform to store and manage data, this platform is also capable of performing stream analytics and apply advance analytics, including the use of machine learning techniques, and lastly we have capabilities to close the loop by integrating people to the information flow whether they use traditional or advance natural user interfaces – that’s an end-to-end IIoT solution. This technology stack is also modular, economic and fast to implement therefore the business risk is low and the speed to test is quick. With the modular approach, you don’t have to rip and replace your existing IT landscape but simply use what’s needed depending on the maturity of your existing capabilities. You will experience first-hand at Hannover Messe this tremendous value proposition when you see the real life implementations and proposed scenario.
