MILPITAS, CA--(Marketwired - January 20, 2016) - Sierra Monitor Corporation (OTCQB: SRMC), provider of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions that connect and protect high-value infrastructure assets, today announced a comprehensive and secure IIoT On-Ramp Suite for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of commercial and industrial controls devices and systems. The suite extends Sierra Monitor's 10-year track record of being OEMs' trusted connectivity protocol partner and provides a set of hardware, software and cloud services that OEMs can use to accelerate the transformation of their devices into smart, cloud-connected products.
Sierra Monitor will be demonstrating and discussing its IIoT On-Ramp Suite at Booth 1159 at the 2016 AHR Expo, being held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida, from January 25 to January 27.
"Smart cloud-connected IIoT products are expected to significantly improve how OEMs deliver service and support, drive product innovation, and offer 'product-as-a-service' and other new business models," said Varun Nagaraj, CEO of Sierra Monitor Corporation. "We are extremely excited about announcing and subsequently rolling out our IIoT On-Ramp offerings to our OEM customers throughout 2016. As the IIoT market evolves, we believe our position as a trusted partner to our OEM customers will help them proactively take advantage of the tremendous opportunity that the IIoT presents."
The IIoT On-Ramp Suite includes the FieldPoP™ device cloud; FieldPoP integration with leading analytics platforms, starting with Salesforce; ProtoAir™ wireless gateway; and an Application Engine with pre-packaged applications. The four distinct product offerings can be used individually or in combination with other offerings to streamline OEMs' entry into, and participation in, the IIoT.
FieldPoP Device Cloud: Centerpiece of the On-Ramp Suite
The FieldPoP device cloud
works with the FieldServer family of protocol gateways and routers to help OEMs cost-effectively manage their deployed assets and provide superior support and maintenance to their customers. Offered as a subscription service, the FieldPoP device cloud lets OEMs:
- Securely register and manage their fleet of deployed gateways and routers;
- Ensure secure user credential management that is synchronized between the cloud service and field devices;
- Manage cloud-based notifications of relevant events; and
- Securely and remotely access field-resident gateways and routers and the local applications running on those assets from any location.
In addition, an OEM's customer such as the site facility manager can use the FieldPoP device cloud's secure remote management capability.
At AHR, Sierra Monitor will demonstrate the FieldPoP device cloud and highlight its role in extending automation protocols such as BACnet and LonWorks from field devices to the cloud. The FieldPoP device cloud will be in beta with a few select OEM customers in Q2 2016, with general on-boarding expected to start in 2H 2016.
FieldPoP and Analytics Integration, Starting With Salesforce
The FieldPoP device cloud serves as a connector or middleware to third-party application and analytics cloud platforms. Product data-in-use gathered through Sierra Monitor's FieldPoP device cloud can be integrated with powerful visualization and analytics cloud platforms from leading vendors such as Salesforce, PTC/ThingWorx, SAP/Hana, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and the Oracle Cloud, along with other popular cloud services such as Dropbox. As a result, OEMs can blend product data with other relevant information over time to gain new insights that lead to improvements in product quality, innovations in products and services, and identification of new revenue opportunities.
"Salesforce is a leader in applying cloud and big data technologies to the IoT. We are pleased to work with Sierra Monitor to integrate their device cloud with our platform, including IoT Cloud, to benefit both our customers," said Charlie Isaacs, CTO of Salesforce's IoT initiative.
Sierra Monitor will demonstrate integration with the Salesforce cloud, the first of many integration partnerships expected in 2016, at AHR.
ProtoAir Wireless Gateway: First Wireless FieldServer Product
The ProtoAir wireless gateway is Sierra Monitor's first wireless product in its well-regarded FieldServer protocol gateway and router family. OEMs of industrial and commercial devices are increasingly looking to augment their existing wired schemes (e.g., serial cabling or Ethernet) with wireless connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular. The ProtoAir wireless gateway translates native wired protocols into standard automation protocols such as BACnet MS/TP, BACnet/IP, Modbus and LonWorks-connecting over the air to management systems or to the cloud.
The ProtoAir wireless gateway offers all the benefits of the FieldServer-branded wired gateways and routers, such as flexibility with the world's largest library of protocols (140+) as well as low installation and operating costs, based on features such as automatic device discovery and web-based configuration.
"Sierra Monitor expects existing OEM customers that use the company's wired ProtoNode gateways will consider the ProtoAir wireless gateway to address their emerging wireless requirements," said Nagaraj. "Wireless options are also expected to open up new use cases that attract additional OEM customers."
ProtoAir beta tests will begin in late Q2 2016, with shipments of certified products commencing in 2H 2016.
Application Engine and Pre-Packaged Applications: Simplified Management
The Sierra Monitor Application Engine, a secure and flexible programming environment, runs on its FieldServer family of protocol gateway and routers, along with a set of pre-packaged applications, to simplify network management. The pre-packaged applications provide visual status information on an OEM's devices that are front-ended by the gateway; build a trended history of selected data points from the devices; and notify the right personnel electronically on trigger events.
Collectively, the applications simplify network discovery, site commissioning and site maintenance. They consolidate functions that might have been distributed across multiple products such as gateways, web servers, network management tools and data loggers into the FieldServer gateway, reducing OEMs' upfront and lifecycle costs. The use of the Application Engine allows the applications to be customized to the OEMs' requirements, within limits.
At AHR, Sierra Monitor will demonstrate in its booth and discuss at several speaking tracks how one of its OEM customers is using these applications. The Application Engine and an initial set of pre-packaged applications are available now.
About Sierra Monitor Corporation
Sierra Monitor Corporation addresses the industrial and commercial facilities management market with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions that connect and protect high-value infrastructure assets. The company's FieldServer brand of protocol gateways is used by system integrators and OEMs to enable local and remote monitoring and control of assets and facilities. With more than 200,000 products, supporting over 140 protocols, installed in commercial and industrial facilities, FieldServer is the industry's leading multi-protocol gateway.
Sierra Monitor's Sentry IT fire and gas detection solutions are used by industrial and commercial facilities managers to protect their personnel and assets. Sentry IT branded controllers, sensor modules, and software are installed at thousands of facilities such as natural gas vehicle fueling and maintenance stations, wastewater treatment plants, oil and gas refineries and pipelines, parking garages, U.S. Navy ships and underground telephone vaults.
Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley in Milpitas, Calif., Sierra Monitor was founded in 1979 and has been a public company (SRMC) since 1989. By combining its distinguished track record in industrial sensing and automation with emerging IoT technologies such as cloud connectivity, big data and analytics, Sierra Monitor is at the forefront of the emerging IIoT trend.
For more information, visit: http://www.sierramonitor.com/
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