New Cisco Offerings Help Unlock the Industrial Value of the Internet of Things

San Diego, Calif. – DISTRIBUTECH – Feb. 4, 2015 – Cisco today announced new offerings aimed at expanding industrial use cases for the Internet of Things (IoT). The growing demand for IoT applications has caused infrastructure needs to evolve across industries, requiring greater flexibility, scalability and support of high bandwidth applications and services. The Cisco Industrial Operations Kit and the Cisco Industrial Ethernet 4000 (IE 4000) Series Switches give customers new networking options to support the growth of IoT applications and unlock the business value of IoT and increased connectivity.

Cisco Industrial Operations Kit Virtualizes Deployment to Reduce Setup Time to Days

As organizations, such as utilities, oil, gas and energy companies, and municipalities, look to leverage new IoT applications, demand is growing for a quick and simple way to deploy Field Area Network (FAN) pilots, as well as reduce the cost of deploying a secure network infrastructure for medium and small size deployments.

To help customers start deploying multi-service FAN solutions, Cisco developed the virtual Industrial Operations Kit, based on the Connected Grid Network Management System. Virtualizing secure network services on a single Cisco Unified Computing Server, the Industrial Operations Kit can be deployed in a matter of days. The kit plays a critical role in creating efficient, secure and affordable industrial architectures for small to midsize organizations and large field area network pilots.

The Industrial Operations Kit offers new levels of manageability and control for services such as smart utility grids, roads, rails, airports and fleets by managing up to 300 industrial routers and 250,000 RF Mesh endpoints with a single server. The kit includes a single headend router, bundled with Cisco PRIME Access Registrar software for authentication, authorization and accounting, and the Connected Grid Network Management System with Cisco Embedded Services Routers for zero-touch deployment.

Cisco Industrial Ethernet 4000 Series Switches Offers High Bandwidth and Low-Latency Network Connectivity

Industrial organizations are looking to scale and increase the amount of Power over Ethernet (PoE) required by new devices and applications. To meet these growing requirements, Cisco is releasing the IE 4000, the industry’s first 40Gbps Gigabit Ethernet switch offering high bandwidth and low-latency network connectivity. In addition to providing more than double the scalability of other industrial switches, the IE 4000 brings real-time connectivity and enterprise intelligence to harsh industrial environments.

The Cisco IE 4000 provides the most flexible and scalable IoT platform available, allowing organizations to future-proof networks by meeting the increased bandwidth and PoE requirements of industrial applications. Delivering an industry-leading switching capacity as a DIN rail compliant form factor, the IE 4000 can improve uptime and performance of industrial assets and increases operational safety and efficiency by providing real-time information about the endpoints on the network.

The IE 4000 extends the family of Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switching Series, providing enhanced features for IoT industrial networks:

• Up to 20 Gigabit Ethernet ports and 40Gbps switching capacity for high speed/throughput devices and low-latency applications (PLCs, high-speed wireless AP, HD IP video cameras, etc.).
• In-line power for industrial devices (IP cameras, IP phones, badge readers, 802.11ac wireless APs, etc.) throughout an industrial floor, allowing for movement of these devices as needed without an overhaul of an electrical system.
• Secure IoT deployments as physical security is integrated with advanced network security, Cisco End to End TrustSec, allowing device and data authentication and policy settings on the network.

Quotes:

“The IE 4000 and Industrial Operations Kit demonstrate how Cisco is taking the lead in bringing IoT capabilities to customers of all sizes. The market is demanding new infrastructure capabilities, and Cisco’s leadership in Gigabit switching technologies and comprehensive, end-to-end field network deployment offerings puts us in a unique position to help organizations build out long term strategies that address the challenges of an IoT environment. We have developed these offerings to give customers the ability to accelerate their IoT innovations.” – Kip Compton, vice president of IoT Systems and Software, Cisco

“Cisco IoT technologies, like the IE 4000, are leading to bigger and better business outcomes. We have scaled our switching capacity, as well as increased the amount of PoE needed to ensure a connected and secure factory floor. Utilizing Cisco’s switching expertise to address today’s IoT challenges, this solution has already received interest from our customers and partners looking for an easy and secure solution for converging enterprise and industrial networks.” – Karsten Heer, senior consultant for IoT Solutions, Axians.

“Simplicity is key. The Industrial Operations Kit allows us to offer a simplified option for our customers who are looking for turnkey, small- to mid-sized smart grid installations. The solution shortens the time to deployment and gives customers a way to centrally manage their field area network without compromising security. With the Cisco Industrial Operations Kit, we are able to offer our customers more choices to match their specific needs, giving them an easy path to more IoT-friendly environments.” – Jeff Carkhuff, vice president of global solutions marketing for electricity, Itron

Supporting Resources:

• Video: Introducing the Cisco Industrial Ethernet (IE) 4000 Switch Series
• For more information about Cisco IE 4000 Switching Series, please visit: http://www.cisco.com/go/ie4000
• For more information about Cisco Industry Solutions, please visit:http://www.cisco.com/web/strategy/index.html

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