GE Chooses AWS for Internal IT, with Predix Still Set for Azure
Amazon Web Services yesterday announced that it is the "preferred cloud provider" for General Electric, one of the world's largest industrial conglomerates. However, what was not stated in the announcement is that it only pertains to GE's internal IT apps. GE is moving forward with its plans announced last year to run its Predix industrial exchange on Microsoft Azure.
Responding to my query about the nature of yesterday's announcement, issued only by AWS, a GE spokeswoman clarified the company's plans. "The AWS announcement refers to our internal IT applications only," she stated.
The plan to run GE Predix, the giant industrial cloud platform aimed at building and operating Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities, on Azure was announced at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in July of 2016. Predix is a global exchange and hub designed to gather massive quantities of data from large numbers of sensors and endpoints and apply machine learning and predictive analytics to the data to optimize operations and apply automation. The company uses it for its own customers and partners.
Jeffrey Immelt, the chairman and CEO of GE who recently retired, joined Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on stage during the keynote session kicking off last year's WPC, where he described GE's plans to integrate Predix with the Azure IoT Suite and Cortana Intelligence Suite.
"For our Predix platform, our partnership with Microsoft continues as planned," according to the GE spokeswoman. "By bringing Predix to Azure, we are helping our mutual customers connect their IT and OT [operational technology] systems. We have also integrated with Microsoft tools such as Power BI (which we demonstrated at our Minds + Machines event last year) and have a roadmap for further technical collaboration and integration with additional Microsoft services."
GE will have more to say about that at this year's annual Minds + Machines conference, scheduled to take place at the end of this month in San Francisco.
Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on 10/06/2017 at 10:27 AM