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Oracle steps up IoT game, adds AI, digital twin, and enterprise data integration

Oracle is enhancing its IoT Cloud applications but sees the secret sauce as the data and automation that's available in its ERP and supply chain systems.
Written by Larry Dignan, Contributor

Harnessing IoT in the Enterprise

Oracle said it has added digital twins, workflow threads between enterprise systems between the Internet of Things (IoT) to corporate data and embedded artificial intelligence to its IoT Cloud applications.

The company has been stepping up its IoT efforts, with an aim to easing deployments and delivering more business value. Like Salesforce and SAP, Oracle is arguing that melding corporate and customer data with the Internet of Things and analytics drives business value.

To Oracle, the IoT Cloud will ultimately blend augmented and virtual reality for efforts like preventative maintenance and inventory tracking. A demo highlighted how IoT, Oracle systems, and augmented and virtual reality can co-mingle.

Read also: Augmented reality: Oracle builds a compelling case

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Lionel Chocron, vice president of IoT Solutions at Oracle, walked through the augmented and virtual reality demos. He noted that early adopters are looking at AR and VR, but he sees sectors like manufacturing are driving interest: "Our goal is to make IoT easy and focus on business outcomes," said Chocron.

Read also: 16 questions CXOs should ask before starting an IoT project

Oracle's take is that the decision makers on IoT applications are business leaders. IT is involved, but for the most part, business decision makers want integrated apps that can be implemented quickly.

The company outlined the following:

  • IoT Cloud applications will have built-in digital twin, digital thread, which is an effort to integrate, interconnect, and optimize the supply chain and artificial intelligence and machine learning tools.

Here's a look at digital twin and AI overviews:

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  • IoT apps in the field--IoT Asset Monitoring, IoT Production Monitoring, IoT Fleet Monitoring and IoT Connected Worker--will use the enhanced features to offer predictive and automated workflows with ERP and supply chain systems.
  • New industry-focused IoT apps will include Smart Connected Factor, Digital Field Service and Digital Fleet Management have launched.
  • Oracle has broadened its roster of IoT device and systems integration partners.

What Oracle is going for is an approach to IoT that revolves around applications and corporate data -- two of the companies strongholds. The IoT platform space is very crowded and includes a bevy of players ranging from GE to AWS. Oracle IoT deployments include Vinci, Mitsubishi Electric, SoftBank, and Noble.

Oracle's Digital Thread approach highlights how it is going to aim to meld applications, data, and IoT.

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In the long run, what's unclear is whether IoT deployments are simply faster if the data and backend systems--from the likes of SAP and Oracle--are natively tied to the sensors and Internet of things. In theory, an aggregation platform could pull in all the data from various systems to drive business value from IoT.

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Bottom line: IoT is likely to have that all-too-familiar "the suite always wins" argument that enterprise software has had for years.

More on IoT deployments:

IoT security:

And AR and VR in the enterprise:

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