Cisco Cisco Application Extension Platform for SRE Data Sheet

Data Sheet

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Cisco Application Extension Platform

Process manufacturing companies are looking for ways to capture, track, and share

increasingly complex process data. At the same time, their supervisory and process

control networks must meet robust standards to ensure that their communication and

information infrastructure is not compromised. If a system goes down, the result can be

millions of dollars in damage, lost production, and dangerous safety issues.

As these companies continue to connect important assets to the network so that they

can increase operational transparency, the systems need to scale, and better tools for

managing at the edge become essential. A joint effort between OSIsoft and Cisco

is designed to address these needs for real-time process control and efficient data

management, focusing on applications in three main industries: power transmission

and distribution, oil and gas, and retail. All of these applications are related to the

management and utilization of energy.

Industry Trends

Industry leaders rely on data to drive decisions and to help them make continuous improvements

in their operations. The ability to react quickly to changes can provide a profound competitive

advantage. OSIsoft and Cisco are exploring ways to improve real-time gathering and monitoring

of process data in the following industries:

●

Power: In leading power transmission and distribution companies, OSIsoft and Cisco are

working to develop solutions for substation automation and meter data management. This

is part of an ongoing trend to respond more quickly to changes in the supply of and

demand for energy. These efforts involve upgrading field instrumentation to collect

information from remote substations and meters. Once data is collected and analyzed,

employees with secure access determine the condition, performance, and utilization of

important elements of these complex, interconnected systems. This increases power

availability and meets North American Electric Reliability Council (

NERC

) Critical

Infrastructure Protection (CIP) regulatory standards.

●

Oil and gas: In the oil and gas industry, OSIsoft and Cisco are exploring applications in

brownfield upstream production and pipeline monitoring. These applications are generally

geographically dispersed, creating networking challenges for real-time systems. Reducing

the hardware requirements and simplifying the administration of these systems allows

larger portions of the system to be continuously monitored for trouble, minimizing costly

failures.

●

Retail: Applications in retail involve monitoring energy consumption and availability at large

retailers. This monitoring can substantially increase profits by reducing energy costs. As

energy becomes a major expense, companies are looking for innovative ways to control

these costs, which otherwise can cripple profitability.