How to get from the Edge to Enterprise and everything in between

Posted: August 1, 2019

Industrial Digital Transformation can mean very different things to different companies depending on the needs of the business and where you fall on the digital maturity curve. With such a broad definition, it can be difficult to evaluate software companies on what they can do for you now, versus where they can take you in the future.

So, what do you do when you aren’t sure where you fall on the digital maturity curve, when you want to experiment with different architectures, or just want to find a software platform that will help you keep up with the rapid pace of change in the industry?

The first step is to identify your business needs. Do you have numerous edge devices that need to be managed remotely? Do you need robust HMI and SCADA capabilities? Do you want to interface with your ERP software (Enterprise Resource Planning) for an enterprise-level view of the business? Do you want to incorporate Cloud and IIoT technologies? Do you want to integrate multiple levels of the business?

With AVEVA’s full edge to enterprise portfolio, you have access to it all.

You don’t need to predict the future, you just need to be ready for it!

One of the biggest barriers to adopting new technologies is often that software advances outpace the life cycles of industrial machines. To avoid becoming outdated or obsolete, many businesses must look ahead ten or fifteen years and hope they’re making the choices that will allow them to be competitive as their systems age and grow.

The best way to avoid being locked in to obsolete systems is to find a software partner with a commitment to staying ahead of the technology curve. It’s also important to find a partner with a commitment to platform agnostic software, ensuring that you can connect to any data source and deploy applications anywhere you need them. From HMI visualization on smartphones and tablets, to a huge dashboard of the entire enterprise-view of your business, you need to select a software partner that will enable you to choose best-in-breed hardware and be flexible as you change and iterate over the years.

Subscription or Perpetual?

There are cases where it makes sense to choose either subscription pricing over perpetual licenses. Here are a few key questions to ask yourself whether it’s best to get either a perpetual license or use the AVEVA Flex subscription licensing for your systems.

Are you only planning on using one software solution for the entire lifecycle of your system?

Are you planning on using a mix of software solutions, or want to experiment?

Are you only using one now, but might want to add cloud or edge management later?

Do you want to organize your operations into a unified operations center where you have a dashboard of points to monitor from across the entire supply chain?

You may want to choose a perpetual license if:

• You only plan to use one product from the full edge to enterprise portfolio
• Your application is fewer than 30,000 tags, and you don’t plan to expand it

You may want to choose subscription licensing if:

• You want to remove the upfront financial burdens of software investment and align costs with value
• You aren’t sure yet exactly which products in the edge to enterprise portfolio you’ll end up using
• You want the freedom to experiment with different software solutions
• You plan on integrating more of the business in the future, and want to have options for adding new features or creating different architectures
• You want the flexibility to build a system that exactly meets your needs, without being locked into any one software
• You are looking for financial flexibility in how software investments are accounted to help improve cash flow and bolster profitability

A look at AVEVA’s Edge to Enterprise Portfolio

AVEVA has the broadest and deepest monitoring and control software portfolio on the market. Here’s a quick overview of some of the software options, from Edge to Enterprise:

InTouch Edge HMI – Edge management, and a full HMI/SCADA software. InTouch Edge HMI runs on small-footprint devices like a Raspberry Pi, all the way up to server level operating systems, and has web thin client options to monitor or control your HMI from the web, tablets, and smartphones.

InTouch HMI – The classic InTouch offers powerful HMI. Used in 1/3 of industrial facilities worldwide, InTouch HMI offers advanced graphics and remote web viewing capabilities.

Citect SCADA – Citect SCADA offers a serious SCADA software solution for data-heavy processes that require thousands or hundreds of thousands of tags. Out-of-the-box situational awareness capabilities and a intuitive context aware workspace are redefining SCADA visualization and streamlining engineering efficiency.

OASyS SCADA - OASyS SCADA is a highly secure and scalable Pipeline enterprise SCADA platform that is used to manage the majority of critical oil & gas infrastructure around the world. OASyS SCADA integrates with our advanced pipeline operations applications to deliver superior operational awareness and industrial intelligence to the control room and business. 

System Platform - System Platform is a responsive, scalable solution for supervisory, SCADA, HMI, and IIoT applications that integrates the process with the enterprise. System Platform provides a collaborative, standards-based foundation that unifies people, processes, and assets across all facilities for continuous operational improvement and real-time decision support.

Historian - Enhance decision-making and accelerate collaboration across the enterprise. AVEVA Historian captures and store high-fidelity industrial data, bridging the IT-OT gap to improve operational performance.

Insight - Empower end-users and solution builders with a secure, managed cloud solution for collecting, storing, and visualizing process and performance data.

Where to go from here

Are you ready to begin exploring some of the options anywhere among the spectrum of edge to enterprise solutions AVEVA has to offer?  

View our latest infographic to learn more about where you fit on the digital transformation curve, and where you can grow with AVEVA. 

So  what are you waiting for? Contact your AVEVA sales rep and decide which solutions meet your needs now, and which might in the future.