Business software major SAP today announced plans to make €2 billion investment over five years to accelerate innovation in its IoT solution business.
SAP aims to help business and government entities benefit from the proliferation of sensors, smart devices and Big Data that is transforming business with the Internet of Things (IoT).
SAP plans to increase sales and marketing, scale service, support and co-innovation, and grow its ecosystem of partners and startups in the IoT market, which is estimated to reach €250 billion by 2020.
Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP, said: “SAP HANA is the data platform we knew would unlock the Internet of Things. Today SAP is making another bold investment to help our customers seize the benefits of live business. Only SAP empowers businesses to innovate from the core to the edges to the networks.”
SAP IoT
SAP IoT aims to make sense of Big Data from the multitude of things through IoT solutions that apply machine learning and integrate with the core business applications of SAP S/4HANA. SAP IoT includes solutions connecting people, partners, things and the physical environment, enabling organizations to enrich business processes with real-time, live intelligence.
SAP IoT seeks to enable connected business and connected society, addressing urban and rural areas and spanning agribusiness, infrastructure and energy, health, defense, manufacturing, consumer and transportation industries.
Industry 4.0 Solution Packages
SAP is introducing Industry 4.0 packages – including jump-start package and accelerator package — that feature IoT solutions to enable customers’ digital business strategies. The jump-start package is designed to initiate operational and business system connectivity as a foundation to monitor equipment effectiveness and provide insight into shop floor operations.
SAP plans to introduce the third Industry 4.0 solution package at a later date to provide advanced manufacturing insight and controls, machine learning functionality and predictive analysis for quality and maintenance operations. SAP plans IoT package solutions to address the digital operations of cities, agriculture and energy industries.
SAP buys cos to boost IoT presence
SAP has acquired PLAT.ONE, an IoT provider that simplifies the process of creating, deploying and managing complex IoT solutions.
Founded in northern Italy, PLAT.ONE provides expertise and technology to accelerate the availability of key IoT capabilities in SAP HANA Cloud Platform, such as advanced lifecycle management for IoT devices, device connectivity, IoT edge capabilities that work with a cloud back end, end-to-end role-based security and rapid development tools for IoT applications.
SAP has also recently acquired Fedem Technology, a Norwegian company specializing in advanced engineering analysis and building software for multibody dynamic simulation and lifetime calculation of structures and mechanical systems under the influence of complex loads.
SAP IoT Labs
SAP said its IoT Labs will come up in locations around the world to collaborate on Industry 4.0 and the IoT with customers, partners and startups.
SAP plans to increase investment in consulting and knowledge transfers with dedicated innovation adoption consulting and IoT universities at the sites.
Planned locations for SAP IoT labs include Berlin, Johannesburg, Munich, Palo Alto, Sao Leopoldo and Shanghai.
SAP said IoT labs will provide access to co-innovation resources including design thinking experts and workshops, and interactive demos of IoT-related technology including autonomous systems (such as drones and robotics), IoT security, machine learning and 3D printing.
