Microsoft has acquired Solair, an Italian company that has
been delivering Internet of Things (IoT) services to customers across a number
of industries, including manufacturing, retail, food & beverage and
transportation by simplifying the way the technology is delivered.
Solair helps customers harness untapped data and create new
intelligence with IoT, and Microsoft sees the acquisition supporting its aim of
delivering the most complete IoT offering for enterprises.
Solair’s IoT customization and deployment solutions were
already built on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and are designed to help
businesses in any industry use IoT to run more efficiently and profitably. For
example, Solair worked with the Rancilio Group’s full line of espresso
machines, allowing the Italian manufacturer to remotely monitor machines
resulting in greater efficiency across the supply chain. Using cloud-based data and analytics, Solair has helped the Rancilio Group reduce
costs and increase revenue.
In Japan, Solair is using the power of IoT to transform the
way factories monitor production lines. Their Smart Factory Advisor application
has helped manufacturers increase production capacity and optimize energy
efficiency. By enabling a factory’s machines with their IoT solution, the
information and insights gathered are leading to more efficient ways of
manufacturing.
Solair developed seven software modules for standard IoT
applications to address the needs of companies that handle products, industrial
machinery, equipment and machine tools, and these will be integrated into the
Microsoft Azure IoT Suite.
According to IDC, 48% of companies surveyed worldwide about
IoT topics have deployed Internet of Things projects within their company. In
Italy, however, the situation is different. There are still many companies that
don’t completely understand how to benefit from the potential advantages of
connected products and they looking for ready to use solutions that are quick
to implement and bring measurable economic results.
Having analyzed the real needs of customers, Solair
reconfigured its offering to simplify the accessibility of the
technology:
- The foundation module focuses on managing the key elements of an IoT application: collecting data from products, sending them to the cloud, transforming them into information, etc. 6 other modules are designed to standardize processes and to manage specific conditions, e.g. preventive maintenance, product life cycle, spare parts, stock and engineering management, etc.
- An IoT gateway provides a hardware device suitable to collect and communicate data with Solair.
- The IoT platform enables the creation and management of any kind of fully customized IoT application.
- The preconfigured modules standardize some of the IoT processes so that application deployment time results are even shorter. Companies can make a “soft start” and with one or two modules, and then add more later to enrich the application with additional features, if needed.
