Schneider Electric launches next-gen EcoStruxure architecture and platform for IoT-enabled solutions at scale

Schneider Electric, a specialist in energy management and automation, announced the launch of its next generation EcoStruxure architecture and platform to deliver IoT-enabled solutions at scale for building, grid, industry, and data centre customers. The enhanced architecture and platform is open, scalable, and interoperable, connecting the three core layers of Schneider Electric’s technology stack, from connected products, to edge control, to applications, analytics, and services. This next generation EcoStruxure delivers enhanced value around safety, reliability, efficiency, sustainability, and connectivity of IoT-enabled operations.

Next generation EcoStruxure delivers advanced value

EcoStruxure enables Schneider Electric, its partners and end-user customers to develop scalable and converged IT/OT solutions that deliver innovation at every level to an organisation or enterprise. Leveraging connectivity and data to create controls and actionable business insights, with the combined power of analytics and closed-loop applications, Schneider Electric empowers customers and partners to augment operations to reach new levels of operational efficiency, sustainability, asset performance and people productivity. EcoStruxure fosters open innovation and interoperability and is developed in partnership with leading standards organisations and best-in-class technology leaders.

“EcoStruxure combines our history in pioneering in automation, energy management and deep domain expertise with data-driven metrics and analytics to help us maximise the value of the Internet of Things for our customers,” said Dr. Prith Banerjee, Chief Technology Officer, Schneider Electric. “EcoStruxure gives our customers the platform, architecture and roadmap to quickly and easily implement IoT in an enterprise, extending the benefits of IoT beyond the device layer to create a more intelligent, efficient and secure operation.”

Delivering innovation at every level of the technology stack

EcoStruxure builds on Schneider Electric’s long-standing product and system leadership to provide the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio of interoperable and cloud-connected and/or on-premise technologies organised around its three layers of technology innovation:

• The first layer builds on Schneider Electric’s core competency in developing connected products with embedded intelligence, such as sensors, medium and low voltage breakers, drives and actuators.
• The Edge Control layer gives organisations the critical capability to manage their operations on-premise as well as from the cloud depending on their needs. This includes connected control platforms with remote access, advanced automation and operator override capabilities. Local control and firewall protection is included to maximise the benefits especially for mission-critical applications.
• Schneider Electric’s focused investment in R&D and product development in the critical areas of software, analytics, and services, coupled with the integration of recent acquisitions such as Invensys, Telvent and Summit Energy forms the third layer of the stack – a portfolio of apps, analytics, and services. EcoStruxure enables the most extensive breadth of vendor-agnostic apps, analytics, and services on open IP protocols in order to work with any hardware, system, or control.

“Our innovation technology stack is critical to our open innovation approach, designed to deliver the most innovative IoT-enabled solutions to our customers,” added Banerjee. “Introducing a comprehensive suite of apps, analytics and services built on the capabilities from within Schneider Electric and our network of partners and developers, enables our customers to benefit from open, interoperable and future-proof solutions that maximise the value, performance, reliability and efficiency of their entire operation and enterprise over time.”

Delivering advanced platform capabilities

EcoStruxure is designed to meet the core customer challenge of implementing IoT solutions seamlessly, cost-effectively and at scale. The redefined IoT platform bridges the IT/OT gap and connects the three core layers of Schneider Electric’s innovation technology stack to maximise value for customers.

The launch of the EcoStruxure platform provides a secure, IoT-enabled technology backbone with three core technology capabilities:

• Embedded connectivity and intelligence that enables smart sensing, embedded computing, IP networking and edge analytics
• A foundation for smart operations to serve as the building blocks for control, management, automation, and optimisation
• The infrastructure for cloud-connected digital services that enables the delivery of cloud-based connected apps, analytics, services, control, and monitoring

“Our advanced platform connects the three layers of the technology stack through an elastic cloud backbone that leverages the full power of our partnership with Microsoft,” said Cyril Perducat, Executive Vice President, Digital Transformation and IoT, Schneider Electric. “The platform has become the foundation for smarter grids, buildings, data centres and industrial plants, enabling our customers to reach new levels of efficiency and sustainability and provides a path to maximise the power of their operational data.”

Future-proof reference architectures

Schneider Electric delivers these efficiency and sustainability solutions to customers through a set of core reference architectures. The architectures build on the company’s deep domain expertise and portfolio and are tested, validated and tailored for its core end markets of buildings, grid, industry, and data centres, with even more specific architectures also available for industrial plants, industrial machines, and power distribution. The architectures give customers access to documented and standardised system reference designs that can be used in the implementation of interoperable, sustainable, efficient, and connected systems.

“Smarter, more precise operations is the future for every industry,” said Vernon Turner, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Systems, IDC. “Customers are looking for answers on how to best take advantage of today’s IoT-enabled digital world to be as differentiated, efficient and sustainable as possible. If you don’t have a ‘sense and respond’ model with listening, scalable, measurable, and agile networks and systems, you won’t be able to connect and extract that value.”

Schneider Electric also announced it is working with established partners such as Microsoft and Intel, and new partners who the company will be working with to create or co-create customer solutions and applications.