Rockwell Automation and its Strategic Alliance Partner Cisco drive the digitization of organisations in the Gulf region

Rockwell Automation together with its Strategic Alliance Partner Cisco drive the digitization of organizations in the Gulf region by focusing on The Connected Enterprise at the 3^rd ISA Automation Conference and Exhibition EMEA held from 26-27 May 2015 in Abu Dhabi. The Connected Enterprise is the pre-requisite of any Smart manufacturing initiative – linking connectivity inherent within the assets of the plant. It helps operations managers profitably manage and improve manufacturing and industrial processes, and IT executives reduce network complexities and exposure to cyber security risks. Moreover, it shares productivity-improving information to workers across the organization in a context that is meaningful for each role.

UAE based David Bell, Consulting Solution Architect, Cisco Industry Solution Group said “Cisco and Rockwell Automation have a long history of successfully delivering increased productivity and efficiency for their customers through the creation and delivery of converged Information Technology (IT) and Operation Technology (OT) architectures. As we enter into what Cisco calls the Internet of Everything Era, an era where data, things, people and processes will all be connected, exponential growth of interconnected IT and industrial devices, the requirement for a secure, reliable and scalable Connected Enterprise architecture will be even more critical. Cisco and Rockwell Automation together can offer best in class solutions for IT and OT with demonstrable customer results.”

He added “In the UAE, increased competition and the rapid technology growth requires many businesses to look at how they can innovate and improve their operations, productivity and also how they interact with their customers. Through deploying Connected Enterprise architecture, organisations are able to use cloud solutions, applications and data analytics to gain new insight into their operations and position themselves for the future.”

At the event, Rockwell Automation and Cisco held a series of sessions to help companies understand best practices, facilitate Manufacturing and IT convergence, and help enable successful architecture deployment and efficient operations. This will allow their critical resources to focus on increasing innovation and productivity.

Several products such as Stratix 5700, Stratix 8000, and other industrial switches along with Converged Plantwide Ethernet Solution Architectures were among the products that were showcased at the booth.

Neil Enright, Regional Sales Director, Rockwell Automation Middle East stated “The partnership with Cisco brings great value to customers as we help them improve their business performance by bridging the technical and cultural gaps between plant-floor and high-level information systems. The Connected Enterprise is a convergence of information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) in a simplified network architecture using EtherNet/IP that will help them to lower their total cost of ownership, improve operational responsiveness, reduce time to market and protect critical manufacturing. We work daily to provide unparalleled technology and world-class support for them.”

Rockwell Automation also presented the concept of securing The Connected Enterprise to help industrial firms better understand potential security risks and that making a secure connection is imperative.