Rockwell Automation, Microsoft partner in transformation

By blending each company’s expertise and services in the industrial and IT markets respectively, teams can collaborate more easily and allow industrial organisations to save on infrastructure costs, speed time-to-value and enhance productivity. 

The five-year partnership will see the two organisations work together to deliver innovative edge-to-cloud-based solutions that connects information between development, operations and maintenance teams through a singular, trusted data environment. This will allow development teams to digitally prototype, configure and collaborate without investing in expensive physical equipment. This unified information environment also allows IT and OT teams to not only securely access and share data models across the company but also their ecosystem of partners too.

“Today, one thing we know for sure is that no business is 100% resilient. Those fortified with digital capabilities and assets are more resilient than others, and the cloud is how they will thrive,” commented Judson Althoff, executive vice president of worldwide commercial business, Microsoft. “We are pleased to deepen our already strong, decade-long relationship with Rockwell Automation to help businesses simplify industrial transformation, accelerate business outcomes and innovate with agility.”

The companies have co-developed more than 20 use cases across Food & Beverage, Household and Personal Care and Life Sciences industries. The solutions developed from this partnership will augment and enhance its current offerings.

“This partnership provides Rockwell Automation and Microsoft customers with a holistic, simple solution for IIoT development and operations and removes data silos that hinder industrial digital transformation initiatives,” added Blake Moret, Chairman and CEO of Rockwell Automation. “By eliminating a core barrier to automation initiatives, industrial organizations establish a digital thread connecting the entire enterprise, which in turn accelerates innovation, maximizes productivity and optimizes operations.”

Organisations can access Rockwell Automation solutions through the Microsoft Azure Marketplace with more solutions currently in development. The next phase of co-innovation solutions will be available to joint customers of Rockwell Automation and Microsoft customers during the first quarter of 2021 at Automation Fair At Home.