Maybe it’s been all the talk about the ongoing manufacturing revival in the U.S., or maybe it’s simply the fact that a quick peek under the covers will demonstrate to anyone who cares to look that the industrial control space is home to monster amounts of data. Since much of this data is directly derived from devices on the production line, this data can be used for any number of business improvement efforts—ranging from maintenance and throughput to order management and supply chain optimization.
Companies on the embedded side of the technology industry, such as Intel and Texas Instruments, have been taking note of this for a while, and now it appears the enterprise software providers are taking note as well. Consider the just-announced alliance between Splunk Inc., a real-time operational intelligence software supplier, and Kepware Technologies, a developer of industrial automation communication and interoperability software. The companies jointly announced the release of Kepware’s Industrial Data Forwarder (IDF) for Splunk. The forwarder, a plug-in for the KEPServerEX platform, allows users to send industrial data from sensors, devices and control systems to Splunk Enterprise and Splunk Cloud.
The IDF plug-in is also included in KEPServerEX V5.16, which introduces updates such as the IEC 60870-5-101 and IEC 60870-5-104 drivers, which increase the speed of communication and connectivity to IEC 60870-5 devices such as RTUs, controllers, and gateways. The IEC 60870-5 drivers work in conjunction with KEPServerEX to connect such industrial devices to HMI, SCADA, and historian client applications.
According to Tapan Bhatt, vice president of business analytics at Splunk, this integration between Splunk Enterprise and KEPServerEX breaks down the industrial data and IT data silos to deliver new real-time insights that were previously unavailable. Splunk users can now collect, search and analyze industrial data to improve operations, accelerate troubleshooting, perform preventative maintenance, strengthen security posture and improve productivity. The plug-in enables access to the data produced by devices including PLCs, RTUs, PACs, DAQs and legacy controllers, communicatingover more than 150 proprietary industrial protocols.
“As customers demand deeper insights from their data, our alliance with Splunk provides a unique and turnkey big data analytics solution to address their growing needs,” said Brett Austin, president, Kepware Technologies.
To download Kepware’s Industrial Data Forwarder for Splunk Plug-In, visit http://info.kepware.com/idf-for-splunk.
To learn how to Splunk Enterprise or Splunk Cloud fits works with industrial data and the Internet of Things, visit http://www.splunk.com/iot.
