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Intel and Fujitsu are teaming up to create a platform that can be used to build solutions for the growing Internet of things.
Under the agreement, Fujitsu will combine its distributed service technology with Intel’s IoT Platform, which will enable the companies to create more offerings for customers. The tech vendors initially will focus on creating solutions for organizations in the manufacturing, retail and public sectors.
Fujitsu’s distributed service platform technology places service functions throughout the network, both at its core and remote sites. Via a cloud-based centralized management feature, data processing is distributed based on information coming in from each gateway, ensuring that processing is optimized and distributed automatically based on service needs.
In such a scenario, some processing needs to be managed at the gateways rather than at the network core, according to Fujitsu officials. Intel’s IoT Gateway technology leverages the vendor’s chips and software. Bringing together the IoT technology from Fujitsu and Intel will enable organizations to more quickly build the distributed infrastructures needed for IoT environments, and is flexible enough to adapt to changing demands.
Intel unveiled its IoT Platform in December 2014, creating a package of capabilities from its silicon technologies, software offerings and other hardware products that can be used as a reference architecture that hardware and software developers can use in developing secure and connected products for the Internet of things. It also is relying on a growing number of partnerships with such vendors as Cloudera, Dell and IBM, as well as system integrators such as NTT Data, SAP, Accenture and Booz Allen Hamilton.
Intel and Fujitsu this month created a proof-of-business (PoB) at the Shimane Fujitsu manufacturing facility in Japan to improve visibility into its operations and are using data analytics to help reduce costs. The companies plan to expand the work to other Fujitsu locations worldwide and to develop IoT solutions for manufacturing. They also plan to begin a PoB for offerings for the retail and public sectors during the year.
Both vendors are making a significant push into the Internet of things, which could see as many as 50 billion connected devices worldwide by 2020, according to Cisco Systems. Fujitsu in April announced a partnership with Microsoft that would combine its devices and IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) platform with the software maker’s Windows technology and Azure cloud services, and in November 2014 unveiled a cloud-based IoT development platform.
Intel has a dedicated IoT business unit and is pushing its technologies into the space through such efforts as the IoT Platform.