SAP invests in IoT to help business

SAP will invest €2 billion over five years to help business and government entities benefit from the Internet of Things (IoT), including the proliferation of sensors, smart devices and big data.

The company plans to increase sales and marketing, scale service, support and co-innovation, as well as its ecosystem of partners and start-ups in the IoT market. This is estimated to reach €250 billion by 2020.

“With billions of connected devices, we now have the potential to reshape society, the economy and the environment,” said Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP. “SAP HANA is the data platform we knew would unlock the Internet of Things.”

The company plans to establish locations around the world to collaborate on Industry 4.0 and the IoT with customers, partners and start-ups. These labs are intended as primary access points for IoT research, development, proof-of-concept modelling and incubation. Planned locations include Berlin, Johannesburg, Munich, Palo Alto, São Leopoldo and Shanghai, with SAP and partner experts in areas of specific IoT focus native to each region, such as Industry 4.0, logistics, cities and digital farming.

The labs are intended to provide customers with access to co-innovation resources including design thinking experts and workshops, as well as interactive demos of IoT-related technology including autonomous systems (such as drones and robotics), IoT security, machine learning and 3D printing.

SAP is also introducing Industry 4.0 packages that feature IoT solutions to enable digital business strategies. They are designed to initiate operational and business system connectivity as a foundation to monitor equipment effectiveness and provide insight into shop floor operations.

The company has acquired PLAT.ONE, an enterprise-grade IoT provider that simplifies the process of creating, deploying and managing complex IoT solutions, and Fedem Technology, a Norwegian company specialising in advanced engineering analysis and building software. With this acquisition SAP plans to build an end-to-end IoT solution, in which a digital avatar continuously represents the state of operating assets through feeds from sensors, replacing the need for physical inspection with a ‘digital inspection’.

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