San Jose, California, Oct 6, 2015: In a move that but highlights its transition from being a company that sells products to one that provides business outcomes, Cisco has announced four Internet of Things (IoT) vertical digital solutions for manufacturing, transportation, utilities, and oil and gas.
The solutions were meant to help these verticals connect and manage end points, break down information silos, and collect and digitise data in an integrated way.This and other important announcements were made at the Cisco Global Editors’ Conference here on Monday.
Tony Shakib, Vice President, IoE Vertical Solutions Group, Cisco, said, “Digitisation is transforming virtually every industry. Cisco’s proven industry-specific architectures and technologies give industry customers the edge they need to connect their machines and assets, become more agile—and compete and win in a world of new opportunities.”
Additionally, underpinning these solutions was the announcement of an IoT security solution – the IoT System Security product portfolio. Following the announcements, the IoT network could now act as a sensor and enforcer to provide security policy enforcement. It also will provide solutions for IoT physical security with video surveillance cameras, physical access control, and video surveillance manager with advanced security analytics.
According to a recent research by the Global Center for Digital Business Transformation, about 40 percent of today’s leading companies would be displaced from their market position by digital disruption in the next five years, yet 75 percent of these companies had yet to address this risk by prioritising their digital strategy. Cisco’s new solutions aimed to help customers connect machines and assets, break through information silos, and digitise data in an integrated way across the business.
Here are more details of the four new digital solutions as well as the IoT System Security Portfolio:
·Connected Machines for Digital Manufacturing: This is a connected architecture that “redefined secure, efficient, and visible operations”. This solution enabled rapid, standards-based, repeatable machine connectivity, and global factory integration while enabling OEM digitization and new business models – including highly secure remote access, monitoring and serviceability of machines.
Today, FANUC America and Cisco announced that they intended to implement the solution to enable robot connectivity and analytics for proactive maintenance. Cisco also announced a series of attractively priced solution bundles to simplify and accelerate infrastructure digitisation for customers for the Factory Network, Factory Wireless and Factory Security.
·Smart Connected Pipeline for Digital Oil and Gas: A connected, highly secure architecture that allowed oil and gas companies more control over their pipelines, helping to protect assets from accidents or cyber-attacks.
As part of this, Schneider Electric and Cisco were collaborating to bring the Smart Connected Pipeline solution to market, and were already working with customers such as Italian multinational oil and gas company, ENI.
·Substation Security for Digital Utilities: A connected architecture that enabled highly-secure power grids for reliable, more efficient service across the utilities industry. Utility companies in North America must comply with the North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC/CIP) Version 5 mandated standards. South Carolina utility SCANA will be the first to deploy Cisco’s Substation Security Solution – a solution designed to enable utilities to comply with these regulations.
·Connected Mass Transit for Digital Transportation: A connected architecture that would enable the delivery of greater safety, mobility – and a better passenger experience. Through a converged network architecture that was based on the Cisco IoT System, transit systems can enhance automation, collaboration, video, cloud-to-fog agility and business intelligence. From the management control center to the transit station – onto the roads, the rails, and onboard mass transit vehicles themselves – the Cisco solution put safety and security first. Situated on the River Danube, the Austrian City of Linz was implementing the solution to streamline operations across its tram network.
IoT System Security: This product-portfolio,said Cisco, will help deliver “highly secure connectivity, visibility and control” to assure that the IoT initiatives delivered competitive advantage for customers across all verticals. The Cisco IoT System Security product portfolio includes an IoT-specific security with the introduction of a dedicated security appliance (ISA-3000 for application visibility, policy enforcement and threat defense) and a Fog Data Services security solution.
With today’s announcement, the IoT network could act as a sensor and enforcer to provide security policy enforcement within router and switches. It also could provide solutions for IoT physical security with video surveillance cameras, physical access control, and video surveillance manager with advanced security analytics. Cisco said it would continue to expand its IoT System security offering through additional developments and collaboration with key ecosystem partners, including Rockwell Automation.
Vikas Butaney, Senior Director of Product Management, IoT Systems and Software Group, Cisco, said, “With the six pillars of Cisco IoT System we simplified and helped our customers derive value from digitisation across industries: manufacturing, utilities, smart cities, and other industries. As digitisation is accelerating rapidly through the adoption of IoT, securing physical assets and data is a major concern for our customers. We are taking a comprehensive systems approach to IoT security with three main elements: OT specific security, network based security and physical security.”
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