Emerson Electric Co. has improved the scalability, data protection, and threat intelligence of its Zedi Cloud SCADA software-as-a-service control platform. This after the company migrated it to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

For that reason, the more robust cloud host enables customers to securely scale their supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems quickly. In addition, it easily achieves environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments, and better safeguard critical business assets. Furthermore, it empowers users to adapt their operations to changing requirements while mitigating risks and operational costs.

Safe, Effective Autonomous Operations

Most industrial operations face challenges on how to efficiently meet cost reduction targets and demonstrate actions to attain sustainability goals. Emerson’s Zedi Cloud SCADA platform uses advanced automation and software, including proven machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence. This helps build predictive models that lead to autonomous operations over time, helping support sustainability efforts in oil and gas, water/wastewater, and other data-intensive industries.

Moreover, operation’s data historian can store critical data from those predictive models to more easily track and trend performance and emissions and demonstrate compliance to regulators.

“By moving to Azure, we can better provide managed IIoT services across the edge and cloud that easily connect, monitor, and control assets around the world.  (It also has) multi-layered security, increased global data centers, and enhanced infrastructure,” said Nathan Pettus, President of Emerson’s Process Systems and Software Business. “The change improves Emerson’s already strong positioning to lead successful digital transformation efforts for several industries, providing solid and sustainable results with a vastly scalable, cloud-based solution that’s highly secure and extremely cost-effective.”

Consequently, the move to Microsoft Azure provides the best scalability and enterprise-level functionality of all available cloud platforms. Moreover, users can add or remove assets as needed to manage traffic spikes, which is particularly useful as organizations acquire other businesses and need to scale rapidly to accommodate new assets and bring them online quickly. Hence, Azure also provides greater hybrid cloud flexibility to enable users to work remotely while maximizing existing on-premises assets for a faster path to safe and effective autonomous operations.

Increased Layer of Cybersecurity

Gary Nafus, Vice President, Manufacturing, Microsoft U.S. said, “The ultimate win is building trust with our customers when they select our products for critical operations, as we aim to continue to empower their business and tech efforts. I look forward to seeing Emerson’s use of Microsoft Azure to help power their Zedi Cloud SCADA platform– improving performance, ultra-high data resolution, and more flexibility for increased scalable and collaborative work. ESG efforts are very important today and this expansion will help push those efforts forward in a strong way.”

The Zedi Cloud SCADA platform helps personnel manage advanced analytics in formats that present authorized end users with clear, easily understood data accessible in the cloud anytime from anywhere. This improved access to intuitive data enables easy remote monitoring of assets, helping users improve operational performance even in rugged, dangerous, or distant locations. Increased layers of cybersecurity and the more robust network afforded by the Azure platform enable customers to further protect data for advanced continuity of operations.