Cyient Collaborates with Microsoft to Accelerate Internet of Things Solutions for Industry 4.0

Cyient, a global engineering and technology solutions company, today announced it has joined Microsoft Azure Certified for Internet of Things (IoT), ensuring customers get IoT solutions up and running quickly with hardware and software that has been pre-tested and verified to work with Microsoft Azure IoT services. Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT allows businesses to reach customers where they are, working with an ecosystem of devices and platforms, allowing for faster time to production.

Cyient combines 28 years of operations technology experience and industry domain knowledge with its digital solutions and services expertise to help businesses simplify complex IoT implementations and manage the convergence of OT/IT for improved outcomes.  From solving a single, high-impact customer challenge to mapping out a strategic roadmap for superior operations, Cyient helps customers Connect, Integrate, Analyze, and Act on data to drive actions. 

Cyient IoT Edge Gateway 5400, the flagship product in the company’s family of IoT gateways, is Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT. It provides customers with a modular and scalable edge gateway for seamless connectivity of legacy machines and next-gen intelligent devices to the Industrial IoT network and the cloud. Cyient’s IoT Edge Gateway 5400 provides diverse connectivity and communication protocol options, advanced data processing, and edge analytics capabilities for remote asset monitoring and predictive maintenance solutions.  Cyient’s modular platform approach to hardware and software, with plug-and-play modules and over-the-air firmware updates, ensure your long-life assets evolve as your business and technology evolve.

Speaking on the collaboration, Suman Narayan, Senior Vice President, Semiconductors and Medical Technologies and Healthcare at Cyient, said, “Industries today are increasing focus on digital technology and building intelligence into equipment for remote monitoring and to extend asset life, improve customer experience, and ensure regulatory compliance. The Microsoft Azure IoT Certification validates Cyient’s ability to accelerate IoT deployments for customers and ensure seamless integration from the edge to the cloud.”

“Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT extends our promise to bring IoT to business scale, starting with interoperable solutions from leading technology companies around the world,” said Jerry Lee, Director of Marketing for Azure Internet of Things, Microsoft Corp. “With trusted offerings and verified partners, Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT accelerates the deployment of IoT even further.”

IoT projects are complex and take a long time to implement. Customers find that choosing and connecting the right set of devices, assets or sensors to the cloud can be time-consuming. To jumpstart their IoT projects with confidence, customers are looking for certified devices and platforms that are tested for readiness, compatibility and usability with the Microsoft Azure IoT Suite. By choosing a partner from the Microsoft Azure Certified for IoT program, customers can save time and effort on project specs and RFP processes by knowing in advance what devices and offerings will work with the Azure IoT Suite.

Texas Instruments to layoff 400 employees in Philippines

Texas Instruments, one of the world's biggest semiconductor manufacturers, is laying off 400 workers from its factory in the northern Philippines due to the global financial crisis, officials said.

The Labour Department's assistant regional director Sixto Rodriguez said the US-based company had notified the government of the cuts that will take effect on January 15, 2009.

He said the company has assured the government that it will give the laid-off employees all the necessary benefits and is offering them early retirement.

Company spokesmen would not comment however.

Texas Instruments employs about 2,300 people in its plant in the northern resort city of Baguio where it makes semiconductors -- conductive elements used in electronic circuits -- mostly for phone maker Nokia. It is the biggest taxpayer in the region.

The company has been operating in the Philippines for 28 years and was one of the pioneers of the electronics industry which has become the biggest export sector in the country.

Texas Instruments announced in May 2007 that it would invest around one billion dollars in a new test and assembly facility at the former US Airforce base at Clark, north of Manila.

The company would not comment on the fate of that plant in the face of the economic contraction that is hitting many countries.

The Baguio facility conducts final assembly and testing of semiconductors for customers in computer, aerospace, telecommunications and automotive industries in the US, Asia and Europe.

Press reports earlier said that Lear Automotive Services, a maker of automotive wire harnesses for export, was laying off 80 workers from its plant in the central Philippines.

Source: Agencies