MAY 2002

WHITE PAPER

Ten Things to Consider When Connecting Devices to the Internet

John Canosa, Chief Scientist, Questra Corporation

www.questra.com

TEN THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CONNECTING DEVICES TO THE INTERNET

WHITE PAPER

Table of Contents
Executive Overview Ten Things to Consider 1. If your devices communicate over the Internetare you maximizing the business value of what they are telling you? 2. When your devices communicate over the Internetwho else is listening? 3. How do you reassure your customer's IT department about firewall security? 4. The assets you want to communicate with are not always sitting next to a 100Mbps network connection. 5. Your field service people are not always sitting right next to devices in the field. 6. A intelligent device management system that gives you more than status reports and alarm thresholds will increase your ROI. 7. How do you get data from all those devices turned into actionable information and into the hands of the right people? 8. How do you find one system that will link several different types of devices in the field? 9. You have invested millions of dollars in corporate enterprise applications can you shorten the payback period on intelligent device management? 10. Your customers are interested in the reliability of the products they own right now. 5 5 5 4 4 3 4 2 3 3 2 2

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TEN THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CONNECTING DEVICES TO THE INTERNET

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Executive Overview
Integrating field-deployed equipment, devices, and instruments into the enterprise computing environment can increase business value through lowered field service costs and improved customer relations. This white paper examines ten key questions that a field service executive should ask and answer when launching a program to deploy a intelligent device management system to link devices and equipment in the field to the people who service them. Why is intelligent device management growing in importance to field service executives? A recent Harvard Business Review article1 reports that downstream service and maintenance revenue is the fastest growing revenue line item for many product companies. In fact, whether it be field service and repair, predictive and preventive maintenance, usagebased billing or sales of consumables, these revenues are already anywhere from 5x to 20x the revenue from the original sale of the product that is serviced. Seeing a direct tie to revenue generation, many organizations are looking for ways to optimize their downstream service delivery mechanisms through the deployment of intelligent device management systems. This new category of enterprise software systems uses information acquired directly from devices and equipment in the field to drive the business process. In addition, bidirectional communications capability allows for remote monitoring and remote execution of diagnostics on the device, creating an environment where proactive response, call avoidance, and condition-based maintenance are the measurable results.

Downstream services revenue is anywhere from 5x to 20x greater than the revenue from the original sale of the product.

Ten Things to Consider

1. If your devices communicate over the Internetare you maximizing the business value of what they are telling you?
Its not a simple task to enable devices and equipment across an enterprise to communicate over the Internet, even using standard web protocols. Nevertheless, bringing these corporate assets onto the Internet is only the first step in the process of converting raw data into valuable information you can use to run your business. You will want to use the data you receive to create business rules and initiate complex business processes. In addition, once you have the data, you will be able to look for trends in performance, usage, and condition, to give a few examples. Data has no value until you deliver that data to the people who can act on it. At that point, you have information, and information is the heart of business value. Be sure the intelligent device management system you select can integrate smoothly with your enterprise software to make it easy to convert data into actionable information. Systems such as the Questra Smart Service Solution provide connectors to major software packages.

Data has no value until you deliver that data to the people who can act on it.

2. When your devices communicate over the Internetwho else is listening?

Anytime you put your data on the Internet, security is of paramount concern. Whether you are protecting patient information or hiding a proprietary semiconductor

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manufacturing recipe from prying eyes, the system that links your devices and equipment to your enterprise IT systems must be completely secure. Security starts with encryption, which prevents interception of information as it travels over the public Internet. The device (or IT system) on the receiving end of the communication must present the proper credentials and be authenticated. In addition, your security system needs to prevent authenticated users from performing tasks they are not authorized to do. The prudent executive checks that all these security steps are covered before moving forward.

3. How do you reassure your customers IT department about firewall security?

Because of security concerns, many IT departments simply will not allow other organizations to penetrate their corporate firewall. In addition, as far as IT departments are concerned, the fewer companies that have access through the firewall the better. If you need data from equipment that is located behind a customers firewall you need a solution that does not require any changes to the firewall. Keep in mind that in order to provide such essential features as remote diagnostics there must be bidirectional access through that firewall. A intelligent device management system that supports a cluster of devices, should aggregate the communications of the devices behind the firewall and let a single machine act as a proxy for the group.

Anytime you put your data on the Internet, security is of paramount concern.

4. The assets you want to communicate with are not always sitting next to a 100Mbps network connection.
It would be nice if you could simply plug every remotely deployed device directly into a 10/100-BaseT jack to get Internet communications, but that just isnt the case. Critical assets in the field are deployed in a wide variety of locations, with and without broadband Internet access. You may need a intelligent device management system to connect a pumping system on a remote oil pipeline or you may want data collected from a portable piece of medical equipment that is moved around a hospital. Whatever your type of device or equipment, deployment may include LAN, dial-up, WAN, wireless, and even satellite links. Supporting multiple transports is more than just getting the bits into the right physical format. A transport-independent intelligent device management system such as the Questra system will be able to support different network latencies and asynchronous communications, regardless of the location and Internet access available to your devices.

If you need data from equipment that is located behind a customers firewall you need a solution that does not require any changes to the firewall.

5. Your field service people are not always sitting right next to devices in the field.
A major cost driver for any service organization is the site visit. It costs money, time and customer goodwill to make a customer visit. A key benefit of intelligent device management can be a dramatic reduction in the number of site visitsafter all, the cheapest site visit is the one that is never made. This benefit of reduced site visits, however, will be realized only if your system offers full bidirectional capability. Service personnel must have remote access to your enterprise information and also directly to the equipment. Having bidirectional communications allows a field technician to solve problems in the call center

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TEN THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CONNECTING DEVICES TO THE INTERNET

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or diagnose them remotely. The technician can run diagnostics, identify the faulty component, and have a replacement part in hand before the initial visit. A second benefit is that a lengthy diagnostic site visit becomes a briefer part replacement visit, enabling the field technician to make more visits each day.

6. A intelligent device management system that gives you more than status reports and alarm thresholds will increase your ROI.
Familiar monitoring tools such as HP Openview and Micromuse Netcool provide a snapshot of how a device is performing and let you create alerts based on thresholds you set. While these are valuable features, monitoring and alerts are only the first step in driving a high ROI for your business. A intelligent device management system integrates a monitoring ability with remote diagnostics capability, and links both into the workflow of the service and maintenance operations. In addition, you have a record of the historical data that provides the value for analyses such as condition-based predictive maintenance, usage billing, and reliability trends. Savvy field service executives look at the number and variety of applications that can be performed by a intelligent device management system, which has a broad selection of applications and an architecture that will grow with your organizations needs in the future. A key benefit of intelligent device management can be a dramatic reduction in the number of site visitsafter all, the cheapest site visit is the one that is never made.

7. How do you get data from all those devices turned into actionable information and into the hands of the right people?
Collecting historical performance, condition, and usage data from thousands of pieces of equipment produces a lot of data. This data is only valuable, however, if it can be analyzed and the resulting information put into the hands of the people who need it. A intelligent device management system must be able to handle thousands of devices and must be able to collect data without generating unacceptable network congestion. You should look for a system with sophisticated reporting capabilities that can extract the right information for the right person and link to a choice of enterprise applications for direct value building. Some systems, such as Questra, use advanced technology to consolidate and condense data to minimize network traffic loads.

8. How do you find one system that will link several different types of devices in the field?
Companies support a very mixed bag of devices and equipment. While all are considered corporate assets, they vary in intelligence, age, operating system, and in the type of data they provide to the enterprise. Nevertheless, you need one intelligent device management system that can deal with them all. This means you need to look for a system that can link to your oldest, least intelligent device as well as your newest Internet-ready equipment. Questra, for example can link to a device having only an 8-bit processor. It can communicate with Windows, Linux, or a real-time operating system, and the Questra system uses bidirectional communications that will not overload your network infrastructure.

Some systems, such as Questra, use advanced technology to consolidate and condense data to minimize network traffic loads.

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9. You have invested millions of dollars in corporate enterprise applications can you shorten the payback period on intelligent device management?
You expect out-of-the-box benefits from a intelligent device management system. Nevertheless, it pays to look ahead and choose a system that can link to your enterprise applications systems (CRM, ERP, and others) when youre ready to make that step. Enterprise applications live and breathe datain fact, they are only as accurate and as timely as the data you give them. An advanced intelligent device management system will let you make those connections and deliver data from equipment in the field directly to the applications that can use it. Since few companies depend on a single enterprise application for all their corporate data needs, it makes sense to look for a intelligent device management system that supports simultaneous links to different enterprise applications. You want different types of devices delivering data to different applications. Such a system pays off for you in enhanced business value for your investment. Questra, for instance, comes equipped with links to field service automation, call center applications, and customer relationship management systems.

About Questra
Questra Corporation is an enterprise software company leading the development of intelligent device management solutions. The companys remote diagnostic and monitoring applications collect data from power generation equipment, medical instruments, and other remote devices. Equipment manufacturers and their customers using the Questra Smart Service Solution lower their service costs through reduced emergency calls, proactive device monitoring and diagnostics, and streamlined accounting for consumables and usage. Questra is headquartered in Redwood City, CA.

10. Your customers are interested in the reliability of the products they own right now.
Service and maintenance are performed on devices that are already in the field, not the ones you are designing for tomorrow. You need a intelligent device management system that can be deployed today. You need to look for a flexible system, since you may want to embed the same system directly into future versions of that device. Alternatively, in the future you may want to install the system on a controller attached to the device. Whatever your product development plans, you need a system that can grow with you and accommodate the accessibility of your devices in customer locations, the available communications infrastructure, and any regulatory issues that may apply. One way to insure your future plans is to invest in a intelligent device management system such as Questra, which is designed from the ground up using industry standards that will ensure smooth growth and development in the future.

About Intelligent Device Management

Intelligent device management (IDM) is enterprise software that monitors and manages equipment and devices over the Internet. The category was first profiled by Gartner Group. IDM software allows businesses to deliver efficient service and increase customer satisfaction with equipment anywhere in the world. IDM software uses data generated by remote equipment to accomplish usage tracking, monitoring, replenishment, diagnostics and predictive maintenance.

1 Go Downstream The New Imperative in Manufacturing, Richard Wise and Peter Baumgartner, Harvard Business Review, September-October 1999. 2003 Questra Corporation. Questra is a registered trademark of Questra Corporation. and/or its affiliates in the US and/or other countries. All other registered and unregistered trademarks in this document are the sole property of their respective owners.

Questra Corporation 333 Twin Dolphin Drive Redwood City, CA 94065 650.632.4011

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