Siemens aims to quicken the rollout of its MindSphere software platform by partnering with Amazon.
The Internet of Things (IoT) platform MindSphere collects data from various devices, then analyses that information to optimise processes for customers. Developed for industrial companies, the platform aims to help such companies assist their manufacturing customers to improve productivity.
To date, MindSphere has run on the SAP cloud, but the next version is expected to be launched in January and will run on Amazon Web Services (AWS) – the cloud provider favoured by many industrial software developers.
By offering the platform through AWS, Siemens hopes to build on its market share and take a more dominant role in the digital factory automation market. Many consumers already choose to use AWS as their platform, making it easy to deploy the industrial software across the system.
According to Reuters, Roland Busch, Chief Technology Officer at Siemens, spoke at a presentation in Munich and said, “You have to really scale up in order to justify your money.”
The company said it is targeting 1.25million connected devices and systems by the end of its fiscal year in September, up from 1 million currently, expanding its focus on automobiles and aerospace to a range of sectors.
In order to do so, Siemens plans to increase the expenditure on research and development to over €5.6bn from €5.2bn last year, which will predominantly go into the research and development of its Digital Factory division.
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Currently, Siemens has 23,000 in-house software developers, putting up a good fight to rival the biggest software companies and claims to have made €5.2bn in digital revenues in the year up to September.
Siemens has boosted its profile with $5bn worth of acquisitions over the last two years. In addition, the company stands strong in the market after General Electric (GE) partially stepped back, reducing investment in its own industrial software platform by $400m, allowing Siemens to push forward.
