GE and Microsoft plan to integrate Predix with the Azure IoT Suite and Cortana Intelligence Suite as well as Microsoft’s business applications, such as Office 365, to connect industrial data with business processes and analytics. Predix users will also have access to facilities such as natural language technologies, artificial intelligence, advanced data visualisation and integration with enterprise applications.
The two companies say that their collaboration will offer users more choice and flexibility when harnessing data from machines and intelligent systems. It will help them to bridge the divide between the operational and information technologies that 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,” says GE CEO, Jeff Immelt. “GE is helping its customers extract value from the vast quantities of data coming out of those machines and is building an ecosystem of industry-leading partners like Microsoft that will allow the Industrial Internet to thrive on a global scale.”
Partners: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella with GE CEO Jeff Immelt
“Every industry and every company around the world is being transformed by digital technology,” adds Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella. “Working with companies like GE, we can reach a new set of customers to help them accelerate their transformation across every line of business — from the factory floor to smart buildings.”
A developer preview of Predix on Azure will be released toward the end of 2016, and it will go on sale by the second quarter of 2017.
