Ernst & Young (EY) and GE Digital have partnered to develop and deliver Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) services.
The alliance intends to help industrial firms achieve increased productivity from capital assets and processes linked in the cloud.
The industry-specific services, which will be based on GE’s Predix cloud-based operating system, will help companies lower operating expenses and increase revenue via enhanced machine uptime and automated industrial workflows.
Predix connects people and machines with big data & analytics on the cloud to help users bring the Industrial Internet to their business.
The solutions will integrate GE’s industrial domain expertise with EY’s approaches to address complex business challenges.
GE and EY will help industrial firms to enhance productivity of their existing assets and reshape their enterprises.
EY has been working with GE for over 10 years. It now joins GE’s ecosystem of global alliance partners, offering its members access to digital tools and domain expertise from across GE.
EY will provide its expertise in business transformation, IoT, data analytics and IT cybersecurity capabilities, and access to global resources across several industries.
EY global sector head for technology and leader for the GE alliance Jeff Liu said: "With data and digital technology impacting every industry, businesses are under tremendous pressure to adapt in almost real time.
"Our expanded relationship with GE and approach to digital operations will enable us to bring innovative IIoT services to market to help clients dramatically improve productivity, reduce cost and increase revenues."
Last month, GE and Oracle joined forces on a new platform which aims to help companies digitally connect industrial assets globally.
GE Digital and Oracle will develop and consolidate complementary solutions across their product portfolios.
Tata Consultancy Services is also working with GE to expand the industrial internet through digital reimagination.
IIoT is advancing at a faster rate. The number of sensors shipped globally increased more than five-fold to 23.6 billion units in 2014 from 4.2 billion units in 2012.
The IoT is now entering a new phase of technological integration, by integrating operational technology with information technology.
According to Cisco, there will be 50 to 200 billion connected devices globally by 2020. IDC predicts that worldwide spending on IoT devices will reach $1.7tr by then.
