“The advent of Industry 4.0 is disrupting the partnership ecosystem in industrial automation, with start-ups and independent software vendors (ISVs) partnering with automation vendors to develop digital capabilities,” says Rohit Karthikeyan, a senior research analyst covering industrial automation and process control at Frost & Sullivan.
“Automation vendors will aim to standardise their portfolios through M&As and partnerships,” he predicts. “The consolidation of their IIoT portfolios will result in the upselling and cross-selling of automation solutions and create fresh revenue streams.”
F&S reports that automation suppliers are forging strategic partnerships with IIoT providers to add value to their offerings and to become a single point of contact for end-users.
The analyst also sees an increasing role for open-source controllers, with the introduction of “app logic controllers” (ALCs) bolstering the market by allowing end-users to download and use apps to control specific applications.
It also detects a shift from hardware to software and services, with vendors making it easier for their customers to shift to digital technologies by using novel business models such as PaaS, pay-per-use and licensing.