One of the biggest advantages of using Radio Frequency Identification in industry and logistics today is the visibility it can provide into the process. With the use of Cloud Computing, that visibility can be achieved with greater flexibility and lower cost.
Cloud Computing provides a means of leveraging shared IT infrastructure and standardized software modules to collect and present RFID data without having to develop, maintain and most importantly, finance a redundant and load balanced infrastructure. Cloud applications also provide visibility and access anytime, anywhere, and on any device.
By using Cloud Computing from Balluff provider partners like IGEAR the burden and cost of the IT infrastructure can be greatly reduced or even eliminated. Mark Doyle – VP Sales, IGEAR Online states “Manufacturers are moving their applications to secure cloud environments. While quality and productivity applications are becoming more mandatory, the capital and labor to build and maintain these systems are becoming scarcer. The cloud has emerged as the optimal solution.” For example, to build an on-premise application for a single machine or work cell typically requires an upfront investment of $30K for hardware, software, and integration services. The ongoing cost of support and maintenance requires an additional $10K investment. Additional challenges with on-premise applications involve remote access and keeping up with the latest devices and web browser development. In contrast, a comparable cloud application would involve an annual subscription of $1K with the potential need for one-time configuration services of $10K; a savings over $20K the first year and as much as $9K every year thereafter. With cloud applications, updates and enhancements are instantly rolled out to all users and the infrastructure is secure, redundant, and load balanced. Using Balluff RFID with Cloud Computing provides cutting edge visibility and visualization of your data while significantly lowering the cost of ownership.
For many users who wish to implement RFID but don’t want to, or can’t afford to invest in an IT infrastructure to support their application, Cloud Computing is the most cost-effective, least difficult way technologically to implement. Even for users who have IT infrastructure, Cloud Computing can be a better way to control costs and minimize the impact to their existing business systems and staff while still having the ability to fully integrate their systems together.
Click here to learn more about industrial RFID.
Click here to learn more about I-Gear’s product interfacing solutions.
Click here to learn more about Cloud Computing.
Watch a video on Cloud Computing:
