SAP helps business embrace the internet of things
A recent report by Gartner predicts that there will be 4.9 billion connected 'things' in use in 2015 and as many as 20 billion by 2020.
There’s little doubt that the internet of things is set to have a big impact which will be felt across enterprises and homes. Business systems specialist SAP is keen to be at the forefront and is using its TechEd conference in Berlin to announce three new IoT solutions.
"The Internet of Things will be the key enabler of industry scenarios and of innovations in the digital economy," says Bernd Leukert, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Products & Innovation. "It is converging our digital and physical worlds, which will spur new products and services, and even change business models. The Internet of Things has the potential to dramatically improve responsiveness of businesses, re-imagine customer experience and open up new opportunities and brand new business models such as move from sell-to-service based models. SAP customers that have already implemented Internet of Things solutions have seen considerable improvement in asset utilization and higher business process efficiency and helped address operational costs".
The IoT solutions are powered by the existing SAP HANA Cloud Platform which offers features including in-memory computing, predictive analytics and complex event processing. In addition, it has open APIs that allow third-party providers to develop IoT applications.
The three new applications announced today are; Predictive Maintenance and Service, Connected Logistics and Connected Manufacturing.
Predictive Maintenance and Service will help assess historic and sensor data to assist users in predicting a malfunction before it occurs and prevent a negative impact on profits. It will be able to automatically generate work requests for field service technicians when a device is failing.
Connected Logistics is planned to allow logistics hub operators and others to monitor traffic toward and within a hub and facilitate communication between involved parties including those that don't have a direct business relationship. It will also use a recently announced AR warehouse picker mobile app that uses wearable technology, such as smart glass devices, for a complete hands free operation, helping to eliminate the need for handheld scanners.
Finally Connected Manufacturing is aimed at optimizing global operations. It will allow businesses to use predictive analytics to drive cost efficiencies and achieve higher asset utilization.
You can find out more about SAP and the internet of things on the company's website.
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