Clouds in big business: saving money and investing in a bright future

Big business is a concept that describes a number of well-known companies. These include an international giant of public catering McDonald's Corporation, clothing seller Inditex, and automobile concern Daimler AG. Ukrainian corporations can also be added to this group. But what does distinguish them from foreign ones? - That's right, the speed of implementation of modern technologies in their workflow, which is much lower compared to foreign companies. Therefore, today our topic will be devoted to foreign companies. And even though the spheres of the mentioned enterprises' activity are completely different, they are united by the need for the development of cloud technologies.

 

Yes, the cloud! A payment terminal for ordering food or clothing requires constant price updates, charging money from buyers, and also it has to create automatic balance reports. The entire process is organized using cloud solutions when huge servers process thousands of requests per second. And we are not talking about the terminal itself, the principle of its operation, and other aspects. Big business depends on the cloud.

Many enterprises invest considerable amounts of money in the development of cloud technologies. Smart people understand that such investments will help strengthen companies' positions in the market, improve their performance and even save money. That is why we want to tell you about the most interesting projects in the field of cloud computing over recent years.

 

Robots and cloud services

 

Fanuc is the world's largest robot manufacturer. Recently, representatives of the company announced plans to connect 400 thousand machines to the cloud. The main purpose of such a decision is to collect information about the functioning of robots, as well as to increase their productivity.

Back in 2014, Fanuc, Cisco, and General Motors launched a system for analyzing equipment and obtaining information about its condition. The Fanuc robots were equipped with special sensors designed to collect data on cycles, temperature, the accuracy of operation, etc. All the data was sent to the cloud and then studied to determine the wear level of the main parts and predict the date of their replacement. For 12 months the cloud helped Fanuc staff to track the required period for maintenance works, which helped to prevent equipment downtime. All the General Motors robots worked perfectly and at full capacity, but the most impressive thing here that the company saved $40 million.

ABB, which has started offering its customers a software package for monitoring the state of industrial robots, is also not standing still.  They are working on a cloud-based charging platform. It will be able to recognize users, accept payments, and perform some monitoring of actions.

In short, cloud technologies help robot owners save significant amounts of money. And this is one of the cornerstones of the cloud. Since without an emphasis on money, it would be difficult to achieve the development of the considered technology.

 

Modern transport moves to the cloud

 

Planes of even a small airline perform about 600 flights a month, which is about 165,000 flight hours a year. Quite a large number, followed by an urgent need to check all the nodes on each board. After all, even the thought about a plane breakdown is unacceptable!

To avoid troubles, Rolls-Royce has integrated Microsoft cloud technologies into its Service Solutions. The program is designed to collect and analyze large amounts of data (received during a flight from thousands of sensors). This provides a noticeable help in aircraft care and also allows to save fuel.

The considered cloud technology is unique: it takes the values of 4,600 parameters and sends them to the cloud, where the information is analyzed and forwarded to a recipient. In this case, to a mechanic, who now knows about all the breakdowns of the required board even before its landing. Such measures help not only in repairs but also reduce the number of delays in airports.

In the automotive industry, everything is different. Previously, even the presence of an ESP (electronic stabilization system) was considered a luxury, and the number of deaths on roads was relentlessly increasing. But recently, security has become the top priority. And even though about 1.25 million people die every year in road accidents, the giants of the automotive industry (as well as software developers) are trying to reduce this figure.

In 2015, Ericsson introduced Connected Vehicle Cloud, a part of an automated system for exchanging data on a current traffic situation between vehicles connected to it. Connected Traffic Cloud is another development of the Swedes, which allows you to show information about the path on an on-board computer screen. The manufacturer claims that with the help of the technology, you can find out reliable information about roadways, signs, and accidents.

Similar products are being developed at Volvo. One of their systems is based on the cloud and should warn about slippery sections on roads. The software analyzes data from Volvo cars (collected in a Volvo Cars database), and then sends warnings to other vehicles of the Swedish car giant. The information is also submitted to the road services for consideration. This helps complete the data provided by road infrastructure monitoring stations. Volvo tries to make driving in wintertime safe, and cloud technologies significantly simplify the whole process.
 

Conclusion

 

Big business requires innovations, and the innovations require ways of implementation. And that is where cloud technologies appear. Large companies prefer to use them in their developments since flexibility in configuration, simplicity, and cheapness are the main attributes of the cloud. Whether it is a road surface quality monitoring system or software for monitoring robots’ operation, clouds are indispensable!

We at Tucha have already accumulated considerable experience in solving tasks for large businesses, both in Ukraine and abroad. We will be happy to solve your tasks in the best possible way. Please contact us for more information and competent advice, we are always in touch!