German software company SAP has launched a new internet of things (IoT) suite for its Leonardo platform, as well as closer cloud integration with Microsoft’s Azure IoT Hub.
SAP Leonardo IoT enables customers to combine business process data with IoT data garnered from machines and processes throughout their operations. They will also be able to layer in data from their customers and supply chains. The solution, like all IoT platforms, is sold on the promise of new efficiency and productivity gains.
It is designed to give business a broader view of their operations and drive new innovation on top. The company said the new IoT solution will enable customers to embed IoT into their line-of-business solutions, enhance business applications, and develop new business models based on the new data and insights.
Elvira Wallis, senior vice president and global head of IoT at SAP, commented: “With the launch of SAP Leonardo IoT, SAP solidifies its commitment to the IoT, and in particular Industrial IoT. The combination of IoT and our depth and breadth of high-value industry and application expertise helps customers gain greater business value and a stronger competitive advantage.”
Meanwhile, SAP is making it simpler for customers to use Microsoft Azure IoT Hub, covering also Azure IoT Edge, as the connectivity and device management layer for IoT telemetry data, synchronised with SAP Leonardo IoT. Microsoft called it “a complete solution” for customers, simplifying the collection and ingestion of data into business applications like SAP S/4HANA.
Sam George, director of Azure IoT, said: “This joint solution will enable SAP Leonardo IoT to fully manage the physical assets in a secure manner while streaming the data they produce to SAP’s portfolio of fully integrated business applications used by many of the world’s largest companies, ultimately creating improved customer experiences.”
SAP has introduced SAP Leonardo IoT Edge to give customers the option to extend support for SAP business software on top of Microsoft Azure IoT Edge runtime, reducing their dependency on latency, bandwidth or connectivity, while creating immersive business experiences that are highly responsive and contextually aware. Business function modules based on SAP Leonardo IoT Edge are planned to run in containers on Microsoft Azure IoT Edge, reducing customers dependency on latency, bandwidth and connectivity.
SAP will offer the same interoperability with other partners in the future, it said.
