A big Internet of Things analytics partnership announced Thursday unites two of the Triangle’s largest tech players: IBM and Cisco.

In blog posts, executives from each firm spell out what they believe the deal means for enterprises looking to capitalize on Internet of Things opportunities.

  • First, IBM’s Harriet Green, General Manager, Watson Internet of Things, Commerce and Education, IBM:

IBM and Cisco Team on Cognitive and Edge Analytics

Thanks to the Internet of Things (IoT), billions of interconnected devices and sensors are gathering vast amounts of real-time data about the world in which we live. In fact, according to experts, IoT is set to become the single greatest source of data on the planet.

The question now is, how does businesses gain insight into this data, anywhere and everywhere? IBM and Cisco have the answer.

Right now advances in cognitive computing and cloud-based data centers are making it possible to draw valuable insight from the data haystack. However, while effective, this model doesn’t address the needs of businesses operating facilities located on the edge of the computer network where bandwidth is in short supply and connectivity is erratic or expensive.

For these remote workers, uploading this data to the cloud and gaining real-time insight is a luxury they can neither afford or count on.

Let’s take an oil rig as an example. A single oil rig can have as many as 30,000 sensors installed that are gathering data around the clock. Just imagine the potential insights that a business could glean from this information. For this oil company, using your imagination is probably their best bet however since 40 percent of the data being gathered is never stored and only 1 percent can be streamed offshore for daily use.

This is like trying to fly an airplane having access to only one percent of your instruments and flight plan–the plane would never leave the gate. So how can an oil refinery be expected to manage the health of critical machinery and examine larger company-wide trends, all of which could have serious economic and environmental impact, if it lacks 99 percent of the key details.

As the digitization of the physical world continues to explode, IBM is leading the market by bringing its Watson cognitive computing capabilities to IoT – a game changer in helping companies to make sense of the terabytes of data being generated daily by thousands of sensors and devices. We are already helping thousands of clients and entire industries around the world transform by putting the deluge of data all around us to work for them in inspiring new ways.

Now through this partnership with Cisco, we are extending those capabilities to companies with remote or autonomous operations on the edge of computer networks, providing them with access to the combined power IBM’s Watson IoT platform and Cisco’s edge analytics technologies.

As a result, industrial organizations and companies in remote locations can apply advanced analytics (cognitive, predictive, and machine learning) to sensor readings where it’s needed most, whether at the point of collection for immediate analysis or in the cloud for more long term study.

This industry’s first analytics and cognitive solution for IoT can be used wherever and whenever needed and the impact be will immeasurable on people, operations and equipment:

  • People: A Transportation company can drive 10 to 20 percent increases in productivity by monitoring security, people movement, fatigue, time in hazardous environment(s) and more.
  • Operations: A mining company can decrease operation costs by 5 to 12.5 percent by linking weather and environmental conditions that affect equipment performance.
  • Equipment: An oil and gas company can save 10 to 40 percent cost savings for equipment and maintenance by better monitoring the health and behavior of critical machinery and more accurately planning for needed maintenance or equipment upgrades.

Data analysis is a critical factor in effective decision making in the modern world. But not all businesses have the luxury of tapping into the full scope of information needed to help guide these critical decisions whether in it’s at the corporate headquarters or an oil rig located in the North Sea. Through this partnership, IBM and Cisco plan to make the world’s most powerful decision support systems available anywhere, always.

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  • Next: Mike Flannagan, Vice President, General Manager, Data & Analytics, Cisco:

Announcing a First of a Kind Technology Combining IBM’s Watson IoT Cognitive Computing and Cisco’s Edge Analytics

It is an exciting day for Cisco and IBM; as it marks the next step in our long-term strategic relationship. I’ve blogged recently about the importance of industry collaboration. Within the vast world of technology, there isn’t one vendor who can address all challenges with a single product. This is why alliances like Cisco and IBM are so important. It brings together industry leaders, best in class technology and collective minds in an effort to address collective challenges.

Cisco has been on the cutting edge of innovation for many years. Like trailblazers, we have always been forward-looking; searching for new territory to explore, tame, and make useful for others. Sometimes we do it on our own and sometimes we do it with other like-minded and proven companies. That is why today, we are combining our edge and fog analytics capabilities with IBM’s Watson IoT Cognitive Computing to create a first of a kind technology collaboration.

This new venture combines Cisco and IBM’s collective strength to make data and analytics the key to abstracting value in hyper-distributed environments. Hyper-distributed environments develop as massive amounts of data are being created in a very distributed way, outside the four walls of the data center. As you can imagine, to control and leverage this data has been a complex undertaking to say the least. However, that was then. This is now.

Now, industrial organizations and those in remote locations with intermittent network connectivity can take advantage of the cloud, cognitive computing and network intelligence, working together –analyzing sensor reading at the point of collection, eliminating the need to transfer all, or unessential data to the cloud. The combination of these technical capabilities provides the flexibility of processing and analyzing data everywhere, at the edge and in the cloud, so it can be leveraged in time and context as the business needs to use it.

Early adapters across verticals are transforming their business by taking advantage of this technology.Bell Canada has improved performance reporting and reduced service interruptions by only transmitting the most important data from remote locations over the mobile network for analytics. The Port of Cartagena has increased productivity and streamlined operations with condition monitoring analytics to spot patterns in vibration, temperature and speed on shipping containers, which might have been otherwise missed when manually processed. SilverHook Powerboats can now detect the need to throttle back and reduce speed for one-half second to help ensure engine governors can continue to keep the boat’s speed steady and performing optimally.

I am personally very excited about this announcement and our ongoing collaboration with IBM. Through this integration of connected things and people we can enhance the quality of each business decision – whether it be right now, next month or next year – this is value of a complete data and analytics strategy.

There’s never been a better time to blaze new trails with data and analytics.