BOSTON, June 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/
-- Schneider Electric, the leader in digital
transformation of energy management and automation, and Cisco
have formed a technology partnership designed to help drive major
advances in making smart buildings the standard. Working together,
the two companies have developed, tested and validated designs that
help connect building management systems to an Internet Protocol
(IP) network with a secure, scalable and resilient architecture
that is easy to manage.
Two technology leaders, one best-in-class solution
Today's smart buildings are increasingly digitized and leverage the
Internet of Things (IoT) for greater efficiency, optimized occupant
comfort, and increased building value. The solution from Schneider
Electric and Cisco brings IT and operational building control
together in a secure and efficient IP network solution.
It enables multiple Schneider Electric EcoStruxure™ Building
IP architecture topologies to integrate with existing building
layouts using Cisco Industrial Ethernet switches to connect to
Schneider's SmartX IP
Controllers. The solution meets system availability
requirements upon deployment, saving customers time and resources
while increasing peace of mind.
"Schneider Electric is leading the digital transformation of
smart buildings with EcoStruxure™ Building, a secure and open
platform, making it possible for IoT enabled solutions to
seamlessly connect, collect, analyze, and act on data in
real-time," said Kaynam Hedayat, VP Product Management, Digital
Energy, at Schneider Electric. "It is exciting to see our
solutions, coupled with Cisco IT expertise, deliver results. It
lets our EcoXpert partners deliver the best solutions to their
customers, while helping them grow their businesses, differentiate
their companies, and be more profitable."
The Schneider and Cisco
solution makes building management systems more:
Secure
- Standardize with a single security vendor for IT and OT
security
- Identify, segment, and mediate anomalies or cyber-attacks as
they occur
- Enforce consistent identity-based security policy on the
network infrastructure
Scalable
- Easily scale from small to large deployments while managing an
increasing amount of data that is continuously collected for IoT
applications
- Leverage a high-speed IP network for managing real-time system
operations
Resilient
- Increase building system availability by ensuring that network
failures do not shut down connected systems
- Quickly and efficiently identify and resolve issues using
standard network diagnosis tools
Easy to Manage
- Reduce costs and simplify BMS management with one converged
network for IT and OT systems
- Enable technicians without deep IP experience to commission
Ethernet fieldbus switches prior to installation with Plug and
Play, zero-touch configuration
Technology partnership in action at the University of Notre Dame
Large campus environments are among the many organizations to
increasingly implement IP-enabled building management systems to
enhance performance while maintaining security, as seen at the
University of Notre Dame (UND) in
Indiana. "The need for separation
between IT and OT networks is an important topic and was part of
our decision-making process to proceed with
the Cisco-Schneider technology partnership at UND," said
Whitey Reed, Director of Automation & Integration at Havel, An
EMCOR Company, a Schneider Electric master-level BMS EcoXpert™
partner.
Havel's building management system architecture at the
University of Notre Dame's Dispatch
Operations Center features the Cisco IE2000 managed switch with the
field bus located below the SmartX AS-P Edge Server. The managed
switch is DHCP-enabled so the BACnet communication remains beneath
the AS-P and keeps the data traffic from going across the IT
network. According to Reed, this is what customers are looking for
today: one point of connection into the building, which adheres to
standard IT best practices for a single static IP address to manage
the network while allowing more data to push through faster,
enhancing performance for customers.
"This project at UND has opened the door to broader horizons for
Havel to understand the difference between information technology
and operational technology," said Reed. "IP solutions in the
building automation industry are here now and we need to be a part
of it. Customers are loving that we get it, and Schneider Electric
gets it. And we partnered with a company such as Cisco that carries
a lot of weight in the cybersecurity business, and it certainly has
helped our customers immensely."
"Cisco is excited to partner with Schneider Electric, delivering
comprehensive IP-enabled Building Management System solutions to
enable the seamless migration of the University of Notre Dame's infrastructure to a
converged architecture. By combining Cisco's IT innovation with
Schneider Electric's OT innovation, we are uniquely positioned to
deploy this solution in a highly scalable and secure manner. Our
joint solution, along with the capabilities of Havel, allows us to
meet and exceed the University's needs to have a distinct Smart
Building design, significantly reducing operational costs, and
optimizing energy consumption," said Mike
Austin, Senior Director, Cisco Global Partner
Organization.
Solution Technology Integrator (STI) Extension
Through the partnership, Schneider Electric and Cisco have extended
their Solution Technology Integrator (STI) agreement to qualified
Certified and Master EcoXpert™ system integrator partners. As
"Cisco Select" or higher-level partners, Schneider EcoXperts gain
access to Cisco training and education on IP Ethernet
architectures, and can benefit from simplified, predictable and
discounted pricing on Cisco products, including Industrial Ethernet
Switches, Catalyst Switches, Industrial Network Director (IND)
software, and more.
Discover more about this partnership here.
About Cisco
Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that has
been making the Internet work since 1984. Our people, products, and
partners help society securely connect and seize tomorrow's digital
opportunity today. Discover more at thenetwork.cisco.com and follow
us on Twitter at @Cisco. RSS Feed for Cisco:
http://newsroom.cisco.com/rss-feeds
Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other
countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at
www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are
the property of their respective owners. The use of the word
partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and
any other company.
About Schneider Electric
At Schneider, we believe
access to energy and digital is a basic human right. We
empower all to make the most of their energy and resources,
ensuring Life Is On everywhere, for everyone, at every
moment.
We provide energy and automation digital solutions for
efficiency and sustainability. We combine world-leading energy
technologies, real-time automation, software and services into
integrated solutions for Homes, Buildings, Data Centers,
Infrastructure and Industries.
We are committed to unleash the infinite possibilities of an
open, global, innovative community that is passionate about our
Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values.
www.se.com
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Hashtags: #EcoStruxure #Building #IoT
#LifeIsOn #SchneiderElectric #CiscoPartners
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SOURCE Schneider Electric