Dominique Todd, Marketing Communications Specialist, Stratus Technologies

There was a point in our history when experiencing unexpected downtime was considered unavoidable. Back in 1996, the primary internet provider AOL, went offline for 19 hours. The outage inconvenienced more than 6 million subscribers and was a wake-up call for organizations that had come to depend on the connectivity to earn money. So how do you make sure downtime, the thing that is never supposed to happen, never does happen? Start by asking the right questions before making any initial purchases or upgrades to your system.

In this previously published Automation World article, Stratus’ VP of business line management, Jason Andersen, discusses why artificial intelligence (AI) is important for industrial companies to be thinking about given the large amounts of data brought about by the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

This article describes the evolution that is taking place in edge computing today, and briefly describes how next-generation solutions can help organizations capitalize on new opportunities presented by the edge.

Despite emerging benefits there remains an undeniable resistance to converging OT and IT. A recent Automation World article shared that the two departments, “not only operate in a very separate way, but sometimes even have conflicting approaches.” The solution is to ensure that leadership brings the benefits of such a merger to the forefront. The positive impact the convergence brings to both OT and IT is the great equalizer that unites two distinct organizational cultures.

For many industrial automation professionals, the cloud has come to represent the backbone of the IIoT. But, for enterprises to really make progress with their IIoT visions, they must begin to realize that the cloud is only one part of their IIoT universe.

Organizations are becoming more focused on the data than on the applications – further recognizing that data and analytics have great potential for unlocking business value. To learn what’s driving this shift, read the full article here.

Edge computing:  There’s no denying that this a hot topic right now – particularly in industrial environments.  Over the past year, we have seen edge clearly move from an emerging topic, to a more mainstream trend.  Analysts and media, alike, are increasingly commenting on the value edge computing can bring to businesses.

If you’ve been following us since the Fall, then you know we’ve been validating assumptions in the market on edge and cloud computing. And, our justification came through with an ARC Advisory Group market report on edge computing in industrial environments.

Since 1997, E-Merge Systems, a systems integrator, has been devoted to helping its customers increase productivity and improve profitability through industrial automation. Watch their story of how they added value to their customers with limited IT resources to achieve more reliable and seamless IT within their environments.

How do you prepare for the evolution toward edge-based devices and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)?