Dell Signs Up Microsoft, SAP And GE To IoT Partner Programme

Dell is partnering with a number of major technology firms to help their respective customers obtain the best technology and services from multiple vendors so they can take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the Internet of Things (IoT).

Twenty-five firms, including GE, Microsoft, OSlsoft, SAP, and Software AG, have already signed up to the IoT Solutions Partner Ecosystem, and most already use Dell’s Edge Gateway 5000 Series, Windows 10 and Microsoft Azure IoT to power their connected services.

The new programme will expand on this by allowing partners to offer Dell’s wider range of IoT services.

Come together

These include security and manageability tools, data centre and cloud infrastructure, and data integration and analytics software like Boomi and Statistica.

“Dell believes that opportunities increase when you help others win,” said Andy Rhodes, Dell’s executive director, commercial IoT solutions.

“We are passionate about collaborating with this strong group of companies and believe ISVs are critical in building the bridge between the exciting industry potential of IoT and profitable market reality.”

Dell has already been hard at work with its existing partners to show off its IoT capabilities, spanning across a number of industries.

This includes a collaboration with Software AG and Kepware to develop IoT-enabled predictive maintenance models, which use distributed analytics to address issues such as unplanned downtime, overall equipment effectiveness, maintenance cost and return on assets.

The company is also working with Microsoft and Blue Pillar to help utility companies maintain grid reliability via more efficient dispatch of onsite power generation and reductions in overall energy consumption.

“Microsoft is continuing its work with Dell across our offerings for every IoT scenario, from the Azure IoT Suite to Windows 10 on the Dell Edge Gateways,” added Caglayan Arkan, Microsoft’s general manager, worldwide manufacturing.

“Our collaboration will help both companies to ensure that our customers receive a world-class ecosystem of devices and services and time to production at industry-leading speeds.”

Recent research from Gartner estimates that 1.6 billion ‘things’ will be connected up to larger smart city infrastructure by the end of next year. Among TechWeekEurope readers, 80 percent have either adopted IoT applications or plan to, but home use is outpacing that of the office.

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