Microsoft-Wonderware-TAVA
microsoft.com
Yesterday I started reading al the white papers of Microsoft (MS) on Manufacturing. The following has to be kept in mind:
- After Windows NT; MS Back Office is the second strategically important product of MS. They will do everything to push it to all different kinds of markets (Finance, Manufacturing, Engineering, Utilities, Retail, Legal etc etc).
- There are a huge number of Visual Basic programmers out there ( 4 - 6 million rough estimate); it is the most populkar programming language. So when WW/MS offer a platform on which you can integrate with Visual Basic, it is a very attractive selling proposition.
- MS is aggressively attacking the vertical markets. They do this thru selected world wide partners. Wonderware is their premier partner; until today I did not fully realise this (just read the things MS says about WW!. This makes a huge difference for WW, and for WW partners such as TAVA.
Sales of strategical important BackOffice products, such as SQL-server can only succeed thru the vertical market approach (think 'highly integrated and easy to install, optimize, and configure').
Statements I liked a lot are:
- 'the Wonderware Factory SuiteT manufacturing software tools are "best of breed'
- 'Used in tandem, these capable suites allow end users and system integrators alike to create affordable, scalable, and high-performance factory automation applications that easily integrate with office automation'
- 'aggressively grow the market for BackOffice in the manufacturing sector.'
All in all, too me a tight Wondeware/TAVA alliance effectively means a tight Microsoft/Wonderware/TAVA alliance on the market place.
Regards,
John
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Microsoft and Wonderware Scalable Software Solutions for World-Class Manufacturing Applications
Microsoft Corporation and Wonderware Corporation have aligned their development and marketing forces to deploy the Wonderware Factory SuiteT of industrial automation software applications integrated with the Microsoftr BackOfficeT family of server software. The goal is to provide cost-effective distributed client/server software solutions that can improve factory productivity and enhance business management and control throughout the enterprise.
The powerful but easy-to-use application tools in the Factory Suite address all automation areas within plants:
Supervisory control and data acquisition
Production management
Flexible batch management
Mchine diagnostics and repair
PC-based "soft" control systems
Modular connectivity to sensors and control devices
These client applications run on top of the powerful BackOffice family of server products, including:
Microsoft Windows NTr Server
Microsoft SQL ServerT
Microsoft Systems Management Server
Microsoft SNA Server
Microsoft Exchange Server
Microsoft Internet Information Server
Used in tandem, these capable suites allow end users and system integrators alike to create affordable, scalable, and high-performance factory automation applications that easily integrate with office automation, enterprise resource planning (ERP), financial management, and business system applications.
<JM: think of front office/MIS <-> plant floor integration!>
<snip>
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1.0 The Microsoft and Wonderware Relationship
Wonderware Corporation, a long-standing Microsoft Solution Provider Partner, pioneered the use of the Microsoftr Windowsr operating system in the industrial automation industry.
<JM: this is what Microsoft is saying of partner WW; partner of TAVA!
Now, in 1996, Wonderware and Microsoft have advanced their strategic partnership to a new level. Microsoft has recognized that the Wonderware Factory SuiteT manufacturing software tools are "best of breed" client/server applications ideally suited for use with the BackOfficeT family of server products. Wonderware simultaneously recognized that the BackOffice family provides exceptional performance and a secure, reliable infrastructure for building and implementing manufacturing automation and information solutions. Further, Microsoft's continuing investment in development tools and technologies, such as OLE, ActiveXT, and Visual Basicr, allows Wonderware to leverage these in the development of manufacturing automation software tools. Wonderware is actively supporting and advancing the state of the art in OLE for Process Control (OPC) servers via in-house research and development.
<JM: this means that those millions of Vvisual Basic programmers now are also able to integrate and customize applications on the factory floor. This is significant; in the view of shortage of C/assembler etc programmers! >
The two companies have created and implemented plans to aggressively grow the market for BackOffice in the manufacturing sector. Joint product development will address several Factory Suite products:
Production management
Plant-wide data servers
Soft logic control
Process visualization
<JM: might be interesting to know at what level TAVA is involved in the sales program of WW/MS >
Wonderware's InTrackT product is one of the first manufacturing software applications to be compliant with the BackOffice logo licensing program requirements, having passed rigorous standards testing conducted by an independent testing facility contracted by Microsoft.
Microsoft considers the newly enhanced relationship with Wonderware to be just the right kind of collaborative marketing and product development relationship to help it expand the manufacturing marketplace.
<snip>
A primary key to winning responses is effective and efficient decision making, which in turn is based on pertinent and timely information. In the past, it was difficult to gather good information because it had to come from so many disparate sources: from dissimilar systems between vendors and customers, from legacy systems within plants, and from division to division within companies, sometimes crossing international boundaries. Information was usually batch oriented and came as weeks-old production reports.
<JM: again, think of front office/MIS <-> plant floor integration!>
<snip>
Through development and marketing alliances with Microsoft, Wonderware is producing Factory Suite software packages that are highly integrated and easy to install, optimize, and configure with BackOffice. The Factory Suite and BackOffice are affordable shrink-wrapped software packages that provide broad functional coverage out of the box, and enable users and system integrators to tailor custom solutions in minimal time. |
