Among the important features supplied by NextNine are ease of use, support of multiple protocols, including Telnet, Secure Shell (SSH), Web and desktop, and secure communications.

Another piece of the Invensys solution involves embedding more diagnostics in its products so it can unobtrusively gather information about how those products are operating in order to feed back to engineering for future product development. Invensys has also discovered the value of getting IT involved early on in the conversations and assuaging fears of security holes. “We have this solution installed in 55 locations at the moment,” adds Murphy. “The intent is to make service less costly this way by solving the problem earlier without sending a technician from a remote office.”

Adding WiFi

Another technology in the arsenal of tools for connectivity is called device servers. These little Internet connectivity devices can be added to existing equipment to connect them into the grid. One manufacturer of these devices that connect existing sensors, networks and components via wireless Ethernet known as WiFi, for wireless fidelity, is ConnectOne Semiconductor, in San Jose, Calif. Udi Yuhjtman, president, says, “We provide a low cost WiFi module for engineers who want to tap into more and more machines, for example, the air conditioning system in a factory, but can’t afford to make the system more expensive. Since this works on Internet Protocol (IP), it is easy to explain to the IT department to get their blessing.”

With many technologies that leverage the exceptional connectivity of the Internet, companies are discovering ways to tap into remote expertise and improve profits and increase process uptime.

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