“Traditionally, companies selling Connected Products have struggled to directly engage with end-users beyond their immediate customers. With Beacon Tower’s Portals, this barrier is shattered. Companies can now create customised portals tailored to the specific needs and preferences of their customers’ customers.”

In the ever-evolving landscape of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), connectivity isn’t just about linking devices; it’s about fostering collaboration, streamlining processes, and driving innovation. Enter Beacon Tower and the flexible universe where open data architecture and scalable architecture and deployment meet. Now, with its new capability dubbed “Portals,” Beacon Tower is offering a new capability of how businesses share data with external partners, from customers’ customers to service partners and distributors.

A Glimpse into Beacon Tower

Before diving into the internals of Portals, let’s re-iterate that Beacon Tower is designed as an Azure-based solution, where it leverages the robust infrastructure and advanced capabilities of Microsoft’s cloud platform to offer unparalleled scalability, security, and multiple deployment options.

Beacon Tower excels in aggregating, analysing, and visualising data from a myriad of IoT devices, providing businesses with invaluable insights to optimise operations, enhance decision-making, and drive efficiency. From monitoring equipment performance in real-time to predicting maintenance needs before they arise, Beacon Tower empowers organisations to stay ahead in today’s fast-paced digital world.

 

Introducing Portals: A Gateway to Collaboration

“By setting up portals for each of your customers you give them an area where they have their users, data and resources, walled off from all your other customers. You set their level of customization, where you can allow them to maintain their own users, alarms, dashboards etc. But it’s still possible to share resources between different portals, for example if both a customer and a service partner should see the same devices”, Mikael Rönde, Beacon Tower Product Owner

This illustration shows how Beacon Tower lets you set up different categories of actors, as many as you like, that receive custom subsets of real-time data from the “The Product Company”, i.e. the seller of the products. Beacon Tower also support that an external actor can create assets, customers etc. itself – making Beacon Tower a multi-tenant self-service portal for producers of Connected Products and Smart Machinery:

1. Engaging Customers’ Customers:

Traditionally, companies selling Connected Products have struggled to directly engage with end-users beyond their immediate customers. With Beacon Tower’s Portals, this barrier is shattered. Companies can now create customised portals tailored to the specific needs and preferences of their customers’ customers. Whether it’s accessing product usage data, troubleshooting guides, or personalised recommendations, end-users gain unprecedented visibility and control, fostering loyalty and satisfaction.

2. Empowering Service Partners:

Service excellence is paramount in today’s competitive landscape. Beacon Tower’s Portals empower service partners by providing them with real-time insights into equipment performance, maintenance history, and predictive analytics. Armed with this information, service technicians can proactively address issues, minimise downtime, and deliver superior support, ultimately enhancing customer experience and loyalty.

3. Strengthening Distributor Relationships:

For distributors, timely access to inventory levels, demand forecasts, and market trends is essential for optimising supply chain operations and meeting customer demand. With Portals, Beacon Tower enables seamless data sharing between manufacturers and distributors, empowering both parties to collaborate more effectively, streamline procurement processes, and drive mutual growth and success.

The Power of Collaboration

At its core, Beacon Tower’s Portals represent more than just a technological advancement; it’s a native support for data-based collaboration and partnership. By breaking down silos and fostering seamless communication between businesses and their external stakeholders, Portals supply the foundation for innovation, efficiency, and growth.

Looking Ahead

As the IIoT landscape continues to evolve, Beacon Tower remains committed to further broaden the possibilities of working effectively with what is from the source unstructured real-time data. With Portals leading the charge, businesses can embrace a future where connectivity knows no bounds, and collaboration knows no limits.

In conclusion, Beacon Tower’s Portals are not just a feature; it’s and in-built capability designed in Beacon Tower to let you design the data flow just as you need it without limitations. Whether it’s engaging customers’ customers, empowering service partners, or strengthening distributor relationships, Portals unlock a world of possibilities, propelling businesses towards greater success in the Connected Products era.

For more information:

Partner, Mikael Rönde, mikael.ronde@glaze.dk