Splunk debuts IIoT product for in-depth analytics

Splunk is introducing software that enables pulling in information from industrial IoT devices and analyzing it.

Called Industrial Asset Intelligence, it is in essence a pre-packaged set of analytical tools used on top of the Splunk Enterprise platform, designed for use in a wide range of IIoT applications, said Seema Haji, the company’s director of product marketing for IoT.

 “Industry 4.0’s kind of broad – it encompasses customers from transportation, oil and gas, energy and utilities companies,” she said. “These companies are using Splunk enterprise today … we see them using Splunk enterprise to gain insight into their industrial operations.”

Splunk is known as a provider of log analysis and infrastructure management tools centered primarily around an expertise with big data analytics.

 Splunk has enlisted an array of partners to help the company navigate the murky waters of the industrial world, according to Haji.

“We’ve invested very heavily in building out a very targeted set of system integrators,” she said. “These are the guys that have deep domain expertise in industrial IoT, and they also have a deep relationship with their customers.”

Splunk’s the first major player in the log analysis sector to make a major push into IoT, but it’ll face a brand-new slate of competitors, beyond the Sumo Logics and Logglys of the world. Industrial companies like GE and Siemens, and analytical heavyweights like IBM. But Splunk’s trumpeting some beta customer success with early entrants like European rail freight powerhouse DB Cargo and flooring manufacturer Shaw Industries.

Existing Splunk customers can try IAI for free during an early, limited access period due to start April 23, and Haji said that the company would disclose pricing information closer to general availability in the fall.