GE has recently announced a number of new acquisitions, partnerships and services meant to enhance its industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform, Predix. The acquisitions include Bit Stew Systems, ServiceMax, Wise.io and more and contribute to GE’s strategy to lead the industrial Internet.
Here’s an overview of some of GE’s new purchases and partnerships.
Bit Stew Systems
GE led Bit Stew System’s Series B investment round in May 2015 and has since worked with the company to integrate GE oil and gas software with Bit Stew’s MIx Core platform. With such a friendly relationship, it’s no surprise that GE has now acquired Bit Stew and is planning to bring MIx Core’s data intelligence capabilities to Predix.
MIx Core is a data integration and analysis platform designed for the IIoT. It uses a combination of machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence to find industrial data insights, and the company believes it can greatly reduce project costs compared to traditional approaches. Clearly, GE agrees with this assessment.
“We are pleased to welcome Bit Stew to the GE Digital family. The integration of our technologies will provide the Predix platform with a greater capability to integrate data while it is in motion from the edge to the cloud,” said GE Digital CTO Harel Kodesh.
Wise.io
Wise.io is a machine learning company that serves customers such as Pinterest, Volkswagen and Thumbtack. It has now been acquired by GE in a move meant to accelerate the development of Predix’s machine learning and data science offerings.
GE is hoping to leverage Wise.io’s deep learning experience to advance its scalable digital twin solutions. A digital twin is a virtual representation of an industrial asset, and it continuously collects and analyzes data from physical and virtual sensors. In so doing, it’s able to offer the real-time status of its physical counterpart.
ServiceMax
Last year saw PTC (of the ThingWorx Internet of Things [IoT] platform) spend $500 million dollars on a number of IoT acquisitions, and this year, two more acquisitions brought the total up to $750 million. Capping off PTC’s investment was a partnership with field service management company ServiceMax, intended to round out its portfolio of IoT offerings.
However, GE has now stepped on PTC’s toes by acquiring ServiceMax for $915 million. One question immediately springs to mind: Why didn’t PTC buy ServiceMax when it had the chance? The astronomical price tag may have had something to do with it; even before its second round of IoT acquisitions, PTC CEO Jim Heppelman was questioned on the wisdom of the company’s large investment. Alternatively, PTC may just be more interested in making a push for augmented- and virtual-reality solutions.
With both GE and PTC heavily invested in IoT, it seems that the PTC/ServiceMax partnership may disintegrate sooner or later. If so, PTC will probably be on the lookout for another service management solution to keep its IoT offerings in a closed loop. However, GE and PTC recently announced a plan to collaborate on a “ThingWorx for Predix” technology suite; this new alliance could mean that PTC continues its partnership with ServiceMax in spite of GE’s ownership.
Regardless, the acquisition gives GE a definite advantage in asset management. ServiceMax offers a full platform for servicing solutions, including inventory and parts logistics, scheduling optimization and work order management. Integrating ServiceMax with the Predix platform will no doubt contribute to GE’s plan for IIoT leadership.
“This acquisition builds upon our ongoing efforts to enhance our overall technology stack around the Predix platform and advance our industrial Internet vision,” said GE Digital CEO Bill Ruh. “Improved productivity is critical for the industrial Internet and digitizing field services is a cornerstone of a successful digital industrial strategy.”
SAP Partnership
GE and SAP (of the SAP HANA cloud IoT platform) have announced a plan to collaborate on IIoT solutions. Their initial efforts will aim to strengthen the integration between Predix and SAP HANA as well as to collaborate in asset management and design use cases for the oil and gas industry.
“The cross-collaboration between GE and SAP will allow us to create opportunities for the IIoT ecosystem,” said GE Digital’s Denzil Samuels. “The partnership is an ongoing effort to expand joint go-to-market capabilities and accelerate innovation in rapidly growing markets for cloud platforms.”
For more GE news, check out “GE and ANSYS to Preside Over a Digital Twin and Internet of Things Marriage.”