"No one can manage the digital transformation alone - pure software providers lack the necessary industrial expertise, and machine builders do not always have the opportunity or resources to invest in secure, powerful IoT and cloud technology," says Christof Spiegel, Managing Director at Eaton Industries, outlining the reasons behind the recent alliance with T-Systems. The common goal of both companies is to offer easily scalable solutions in which the machines provide their process and status data via standardized protocols such as OPC-UA or can be stored in the cloud. In addition, analytical methods for the evaluation and use of these data streams (big data) are to be developed based on this data.

"Functions such as data analysis and remote maintenance are already available in the machine today, but local data storage is limited, meaning that information can only be analyzed over a relatively short period of time," Spiegel notes in this context. Markus Lindemann, Head of System Integration for Digital Solutions, Cloud and Internet of Things at T-Systems, adds: "In future, it will be increasingly important to record relevant data from individual components in the machine and to analyze which interactions arise here in the overall context of machine operation and how these affect productivity. With the cloud, data from not just one, but many machines can be brought together and analyzed - whether from one production facility or from different locations around the world. The data also creates the basis for new digital business models such as 'product as a service'." The two companies are still working on the exact design of the offering. The first marketable solutions are to be presented in the first half of 2017.

When asked why Eaton is now entering into an IoT partnership with T-Systems in Germany when it already offers its own cloud solution in the USA, Spiegel replies: "The structure of the German SME sector, with its strong focus on security, reliability and data protection, can only be ideally served by an established partner in Germany that operates in accordance with strict local data protection regulations. In this context, the fact that the data centers are located in Germany and access control is the responsibility of German data trustees also plays a role."