Partnerships in the technology industry tend to spell really big things for the future. In this case, it is General Electric Co.'s Predix platform and Microsoft Corporation's Azure cloud for industrial businesses. The marriage of these two firms' initiatives is meant to lead the path for customers' taking intelligence from industrial assets, the Internet Of Things.
Microsoft News notes that currently, 6.4 billion devices are connected worldwide. In a mere four years, this number is expected to increase to 20 billion. There is no question that the Internet-of-Things would be a successful venture. That is, the interconnectivity of not just gadgets, but all everyday devices.
The sheer number of devices used worldwide is astonishing and makes the prospect of connectivity exciting. However, the publication claims that bringing GE's Predix software to Azure will give customers greater choice and more flexibility, which will securely obtain the power of data from all types of gadgets and machinery.
As Wall Street Journal explains, machinery currently equipped with GE's Predix software platform will eventually be able to connect to Microsoft's Azure cloud platform. While Predix allows industrial machines to connect to "industrial internet," Azure will allow users to analyze and share data from these machines using Microsoft applications.
Theoretically, companies all over the world would be able to rid themselves of the disconnect between the operational and information technology sectors that will make up the Industrial Internet of Things.
"Connecting industrial machines to the internet through the cloud is a huge step toward simplifying business processes and reimagining how work gets done," shares Jeff Immelt, the CEO of GE.
Meanwhile, International Data Corp. analyst, Al Gillen, shared that the partnership "is not a win for Microsoft as much as it is a catch up." This is because Azure was only released to battle the likes of Amazon.Com Inc.'s Amazon Web Services, Alphabet Inc.'s Google Cloud Platform and IBM's SoftLayer.
