Maintworld 1/2020

PARTNER ARTICLE
Cloud-Enabled,
On-Premises,
or Both?
Which Data Structure
Works Best for
Your Maintenance
Operations?
ICONICS develops automation software that visualizes, archives, analyzes, mobilizes,
and cloud-enables organizations’ data. With the expansion of the Industrial Internet
of Things (IIoT), the data processes involved in many automation-based capabilities
can be performed either on-premises (as has traditionally been done by the
majority of organizations worldwide) or via the cloud (which has increasingly and
rapidly become a more attractive option).
THERE ARE MULTIPLE reasons why organizations’
maintenance operations
would select IIoT-integrated monitoring
and control solutions. Among these are:
• Reduced on-site hardware obsolescence
• •Secure access across multiple
locations
• Expanded connectivity
Reduced On-site Hardware
Obsolescence
A business starts or an organization
forms. It begins to amass the equipment
needed to perform its functions, as
16 maintworld 1/2020
TOM BUCKLEY,
IoT Business
Development Manager,
ICONICS
well as the automation solutions it will
deploy. Oftentimes, these same entities
also begin their own maintenance operations
in order to keep their hardware in
good working condition. Just as a company/organization
accumulates equipment
to run the business itself, it also
accumulates IT hardware (servers, PCs,
networking equipment, etc.) that is used
to perform related tasks (such as those
critical to automation and maintenance
operations).
However, just like business-focused
machinery (e.g., an aging piece of manufacturing
equipment), an organization’s
IT equipment can also start showing
signs of aging. What may have been sufficient
even just a few years ago may no
longer be comparable to newer machines
that can perform more advanced tasks.
Organizations are now able to consider
the costs associated with upgrading/