IT Trends effecting Industrial Automation: Part 2

Following his post last week, Ian Kilner visits some of the key IT trends effecting the world of Industrial Automation. To read the first part of the post click here 

In the middle of this trend Microsoft is central. The multi-billion pound powerhouse is at the foundation, on which both sides are based.  Operating systems can play a major part in change, with the acceptance of Windows 7 fast becoming acknowledged as a sturdy platform to migrate legacy systems. Plus the recent release of Windows 8 which is not suited designed to fit a production environment. Windows 7 is becoming the battlefield over which IT and engineers now face each other, in some cases for the first time.

Stratus servers allow functionality in a
an Industrial Automation environment

They will discuss the integration, to fulfil the manager’s cries for faster, better information on which they can base decisions, whilst fiercely protecting the bubble of immunity in which the production environment has sat for many years.

Both sides can and will bring solutions to the table. There are specially designed products which are based on IT expertise, but have been adapted to make them more suitable for the environment in which they will reside.  They provide functionality not needed in the office, but critical to production. This middle ground allows both sides to feel at ease, to talk a common language, and to ensure the migration is successful and as painless as possible.

Products like Stratus, Marathon, ACP’s Thin Manager, Tofino, Wonderware System Platform, or any of the recent explosions of Managed Services portfolio products are all designed to aid the relationship as it develops.

Wonderware System Platform runs within a
Windows Operating System

It’s a process of bridging the culture clash, to ensure IT manager do not have to understand the intricacies of 15 year old PLC communication, just as a software engineer would not have to understand how to build and maintain a server cluster.

So next time you are discussing the latest IT software trickery, think of this article think of Captain Cook and consider looking at the alternatives, I promise you will find middle ground on which you are both comfortable, both understand, and both would be happy to implement, maintain and use on a day to day basis. 

Ian Kilner, Internal Account Manager, Ireland and Scotland, SolutionsPT