Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things: true added value lies in the integration with business software

Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things: true added value lies in the integration with business software

Georgii KapanadzeProducts and Solutions Leave a Comment

Endless potential uses; thin line between success and failure. IoT Industry 4.0 and the crux of the digital transformation.

They are on everyone's lips. The terms Industry 4.0 and IoT have been shaping the aspirations of countless companies for a future-proof and promising digital transformation for years. The need is clear, the benefit, too. But how do I get which data in which form in my business software? And above all, how do I do that in compliance with the three basic criteria "fast, easy and cheap", so that the whole thing pays off?

No matter how you look at it, in the end it always depends on one thing: does the transformation bring the hoped-for success? Is changing the business model, corporate culture and infrastructure worth it? Does the redesign of the processes bring the desired benefits and added value? Are the necessary expenses justified?

Easier communication with the IoT

Many decision makers are plagued with such questions daily (and nightly). To come to the point right away: you can breathe a sigh of relief, because there is a reliable, developer-friendly, cost-effective and fast solution. An integration platform that enables you to establish in a simple, timely and cost-effective manner secure communication between:

  • standard business software (more than 30 of the best-known LOBs),
  • your own application and
  • the networked things of the IoT

It‘s called Connect Bridge, and below you will learn how it can help your company to make the jump on the moving IoT train.

Better communication between stakeholders

One of the problems frequently needing to be solved is the - understandably individually limited - knowledge horizon of the stakeholders involved in the project. They usually have in-depth knowledge only in the area of specialization they`re coming from:

  • the industry partner rarely has sufficient business software experience, which is mostly programmed in Java or C#,
  • The business software partner will maybe have limited experience with production software and sensors (C, C ++, etc.) and
  • the commercial decision maker may have little Software know-how.
Connect-Bridge-communication-problem

Not only in the industrial sector, on their way to digital transformation companies require an unprecedented degree of cooperation between different departments and organizations.

In this sense, Connect Bridge not only facilitates communication between the systems, it also facilitates it among the people involved in the project. Thanks to its own drivers (ODBC, JDBC and Web Services), Connect Bridge works from any software.

This allows every developer to work in his / her language and application. The application developed as part of the project does not communicate directly with the database but via the Connect Bridge in SQL as the central command language. Connect Bridge then translates the SQL into the target software using the proprietary APIs.

SQL: one for all

The advantage of SQL is obvious: it is, so to speak, the "lingua franca" of the database world, and almost every developer understands and masters it. In order to further simplify work on the project and the communication associated with it, Connect Bridge visualizes the target software as a database.

Connect-Bridge-Integration-Platform

Easier interaction with the IoT

One of the challenges of the IoT era, however, is not just to deliver information in a usable form so that it can be analyzed and exploited. Conversely, machines shall be automatically, remotely controlled, started and stopped via the IoT using the same route. Again, Connect Bridge helps you get there faster, easier and cheaper.

And what could such an Industry 4.0-compliant infrastructure look like in practice? For example:

Machines and sensors: 

  • are connected with the application for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to monitor production results, quantities, thresholds, and more,
  • are connected to the Document Management System (DMS) in order to store logs or information in an automated and audit-compliant manner, for example in the case of fire detectors, access control systems, production lines, etc.,
  • are connected to the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, e.g. to provide proactive maintenance, control and optimize help desk and customer interaction processes,
  • are used for mobile capture via scan, photo, voice, text, etc., to start and document processes right at the place of origin correctly and once.

Connecting Software has been perfecting the Connect Bridge platform for the past 6 years with the goal of significantly simplifying and shortening the work of any developer / system integrator. This applies to simpler as well as complex scenarios of one-directional and bi-directional, asynchronous or live software integration.

As of today, we guarantee that every developer will be able to integrate with Connect Bridge in just two hours and finish integration in less than half the time normally required.

The icing on the cake is the pleasantly surprising price. With Connect Bridge, support from external service providers is usually not required and you can handle the integration with your own resources. Or do you want the all-inclusive package with "Integration as a Service"? No problem. Just contact us or one of our strong partners.

"An investment only makes sense if the output exceeds the input."

How this solution works, you can watch in this video. You can test Connect Bridge for 30 days for free and enjoy the full attention of our developers. We look forward to your visit to our website.

Why Customers use Connect Bridge

Watch a short video to find out:

video-thumb-animation-connect-bridge

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