MICROSOFT AND SECO INNOVATE CORPORATE IoT TOGETHER
April 19, 2021
Press Release
Business is becoming increasingly data driven.
The great flexibility of the cloud matched with AI applications allow SMEs to boost their digital transformation process: from predictive maintenance to process data analysis, business gets more efficient while enhancing service production and provision. Microsoft and SECO, a leading company in the sector of technological innovation for industrial IoT hardware-software solutions, announced today that they have signed a partnership agreement to introduce and disseminate IoT technologies. This partnership will make the flexibility and power of the Microsoft Azure platform as well as the versatility offered by Clea applications-the suite solution integrating artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, Cloud Computing and Big Data Analysis-available to businesses that seek to speed up their digital transformation.
The agreement provides for Clea, SECO's edge computing platform, to be natively hosted on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform and to be made available worldwide on the Microsoft Commercial Marketplace, thus furthering the use of this integrated solution by clients, system integrators, and business partners in both groups.
"In this increasingly complex market, the ability to network and create partnerships is a competitive edge driving to innovation. We are proud to kick off this collaboration with Microsoft to allow companies to speed up their business and product digital transformation by greatly reducing implementation times. This agreement fulfills the targeted streamlining of digitalization processes and confirms SECO's commitment to technological innovation and to developing AI and IoT solutions," Massimo Mauri, SECO's CEO, declared.
"During the past year, we have witnessed the rapid digitalization of Italian companies. They have employed Cloud Computing and the most advanced technologies to support their business continuity. To help companies seize the opportunities offered by the digital revolution, we launched the five-year Ambizione Italia #DigitalRestart plan last year, in which our technological partners play a key role to further innovation and the economic development of our country. Thanks to our innovative solutions and to the vertical skills of partners like SECO, we intend to support a key sector like manufacturing by allowing companies to leverage the Cloud, the IoT and predictive maintenance to optimize operations and enhance products and services," commented Silvia Candiani, CEO of Microsoft Italy.
"Time-to-market is increasingly becoming a key factor for companies," added Gianluca Venere, SECO Chief Innovation Officer. "This partnership allows us to feed an innovation ecosystem that enables companies to speed up their business by means of a ready-to-use, easy-to-implement, efficient, integrated and scalable offer. Microsoft Azure represents an excellent opportunity to reduce Clea's time-to-market, the suite we have recently launched which, together with the flexibility of the Microsoft cloud platform, allows businesses to easily manage the power and scalability of the solution."
"Cloud Computing, AI and IoT represent an extraordinary opportunity to foster the growth of Italian companies and, thanks to the Microsoft partner ecosystem, organizations of all sizes can avail themselves of advanced, customized tools to meet their specific needs. Clea is a simple and effective solution to guide companies along their path towards innovation, by helping them leverage IoT and Artificial Intelligence and draw maximum benefit from their data. We are pleased to collaborate with SECO, supporting businesses with the flexibility, scalability and security that our Azure cloud platform guarantees," concluded Fabio Santini, Director of Microsoft Italy's One Commercial Partner Division.
Clea
Clea is the suite solution that integrates Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Cloud Computing and Big Data Analysis in a single service. A truly integrated Suite of Artificial Intelligence services within the reach of all businesses, from large to small, launched by SECO Mind, the division of SECO that brings together all skills and technologies within the area of AI and Big Data Analysis.
About Clea
The integration of Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Edge and Cloud computing services through a single device and a dedicated Suite represents an opportunity for business growth by optimizing efficiency, strengthening productivity and minimizing maintenance times and costs.
The benefits of Clea
One of the benefits of Clea, for instance, is performing predictive maintenance on your machinery, i.e. foreseeing when it needs repairs. Additional fields of application are the use of Data Analysis within the IoT to make data-driven business decisions.
Relevant industrial sectors
It can be adopted in any sector where digital products can be used. Clea is already in the application and experimentation phase in the vending machines, coffee machines, and refrigerated transport sectors.
The technology
Clea can be activated by installing Easy Edge, a new microcontroller for mobile connectivity (LTE-M/NB-IoT/2G + Wi-Fi, BT), with low consumption and geolocation functions. Once installed inside the industrial or the commercial equipment, it can execute Artificial Intelligence algorithms to transform any device-i.e. a coffee machine (https://youtu.be/dNvFJyhOoN4) or a vending machine (https://youtu.be/o3CpdiMvM-E)-into a smart device.
SECO
SECO is a center of excellence in the field of technological innovation and integration. For over forty years, the company has designed and produced solutions ranging from the single microcomputer to integrated systems and software platforms, consolidating its role as a strategic partner in the digital transformation and IoT evolution of businesses in Italy and abroad. With over 450 employees and a turnover, as of December 31, 2020, of €76,1 million, SECO supplies a variety of industrial sectors including healthcare, industrial automation, logistics and transportation, and numbers among its customers market leaders such as Cimbali, Esaote, Evoca and Technogym. SECO is one of the founders of the international computer miniaturization standard Qseven® and collaborates regularly with universities, research centers, and innovative start-ups. SECO operates on a global scale with offices in Italy, Germany, the US, India and Taiwan. SECO is an investee of Fondo Italiano Tecnologia e Crescita, managed by Fondo Italiano d'Investimento SGR.
For more information: www.seco.com
