HCL Technologies and Microsoft Corp. in Redmond have had a relationship for 10 years and in the near future, the two companies will be expanding on their partnership with the launch of the Internet of Things (IoT) Incubation Center.
The center is currently being built and will be at HCL’s Redmond location near the Microsoft campus in Overlake. Once it is up and running, an HCL press release states that the center will be for building vertical solutions focused on two key growth areas: industrial and manufacturing, and life sciences and health care. The release continues, stating that there will also be use cases around industrial automation, remote patient monitoring and fleet management, among others.
Matt Preschern, executive vice president and chief marketing officer for HCL, said with the IoT, they need to start with a “thing.” Using the example of a car, he said it begins as a regular product. It then evolves into a smart product that can be connected to the Internet and is able to speak to other products. Continuing with the car example, Preschern said when intelligence is embedded in the product, it is able to sense when it is in need of repairs or maintenance. So with a car, the vehicle would know when it was in need of an oil change or other maintenance work and in most cases, a vehicle will alert the driver before and once it reaches this point.
Preschern said such an alert could help prevent major damage to a machine.
He said if you apply this to an industry such as mining, being alerted in advance of required maintenance or part replacements on equipment could save companies thousands of dollars by avoiding larger problems and damage. This thought process could be applied to a number of industries, ranging from household appliances to health care.
The IoT Incubation Center would be a center where such solutions for products will be developed. The HCL release states that the center will combine the company’s heritage and leadership in engineering and product lifecycle management, systems integration and infrastructure services, while leveraging Microsoft Azure IoT Suite and Microsoft’s leadership in the IoT space.
Preschern said the incubation center will be a collaborative effort.
“We do it together,” he said about the work.
According to the release, the center will also “deploy a new model of innovation leveraging real-time analytics, sensory data and rapid co-creation allowing customers to experience the impact IoT can have on their ability to create sustainable business value.”
“Innovation in today’s world requires invention and execution. The ability to rapidly prototype and bring solutions to market is a key to enterprise success in a hyper-innovative global environment,” said Sukamal Banerjee, executive vice president and head of the IoT WoRKS business unit for HCL, in the release. “Industrial IoT is slated to be the next big productivity and revenue generation lever for enterprises worldwide. We are confident that our collaboration in this space will create some truly innovative and actionable industrial IoT solutions which are scalable, cost-effective and focused on user experience.”
In the release, Susan Hauser, corporate vice president of business and corporate responsibility for Microsoft, added, “One of the most transformative trends affecting businesses today is the Internet of Things. Together with HCL, we’re enabling companies to accelerate IoT adoption with industry-specific solutions that deliver greater business insights, new revenue models and speed return on investment. These capabilities are essential to creating greater impact and maintaining competitive advantage in the digital economy.”
Preschern said the decade-long relationship between HCL, which has locations all over the world, and Microsoft has been good and it is stronger today than it has ever been. He said Microsoft has entrusted HCL in every aspect of its company, from digital marketing, to gaming, to engineering and they are proud and humbled to partner with such a “fantastic organization.”
