GE, forges Internet of things alliances with Verizon, Cisco, Intel

Summary: GE will also open up its Predix software platform to developers and users in 2015 as it aims to add intelligence to industrial gear.

By Larry Dignan for Between the Lines | October 9, 2014 -- 20:28 GMT (13:28 PDT)

Credit: GE

General Electric on Thursday announced a bevy of alliances with enterprise technology heavyweights as it lines up support for its Predix platform, which is software designed to add intelligence to various Internet of things end points.

Credit: GE

For GE, the Internet of things, which the company calls the industrial Internet, the networking of machines and industrial gear is a growth engine. GE wants to position its turbines, engines and other equipment as smart gear that are connected via its software. In many ways, GE is a software company and technology firm akin to IBM.
GE added that it will deliver more than $1 billion in incremental revenue from its roster of 40 industrial Internet services. GE currently monitors and analyzes 50 million data points from 10 million sensors on $1 trillion of managed assets daily.
In the Intel and Cisco pacts, the companies will work with GE to create "Predix Ready" devices, which will include metadata and open communication frameworks from sensors and devices to cloud based services. Intel is aiming to embed GE integration on its processors and Cisco is including Predix compatibility on its rugged networking gear like industrial routers. Predix's architecture ties together cloud and data center computing resources with Hadoop. GE also counts EMC's Pivotal unit as a partner.

GE said it will open up the Predix platform to users and developers in 2015. The platform allows for customized industry apps, asset tracking and management and firewalls to protect infrastructure.
Verizon's role in the GE efforts will be to connect its machine-to-machine and cloud platforms to Predix.
GE held a conference dubbed Minds + Machines in New York.
Under the alliance, the Verizon and GE will launch services such as remote monitoring, diagnostics and maintenance fixes on GE's Predix platform. GE and Verizon also said they will collaborate on one global subscriber identity module (SIM) for global usage.
Telecom companies have been diving into machine-to-machine connections as a way to bolster their enterprise efforts and garner more high margin accounts. GE also forged pacts with Softbank and Vodafone to cover its wireless bases abroad.