AVEVA’s Bry Dillon on building the data ecosystems of the future

AVEVA’s Bry Dillon on building the data ecosystems of the future

“Data ecosystems represent the next wave of digital transformation,” says Bry Dillon

Dillon explains how developing a strong network of suppliers, vendors, customers and value chain partners will help organisations in the industrial sector to drive innovation and reach their sustainability goals

Rebecca Gibson |


Organisations that share data, applications or operations with their ecosystem partners through joint ventures will increase profitability by five percentage points by the end of 2023, according to the IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Future of Industry Ecosystems 2023 Predictions report.

One reason for this is that when organisations are able to leverage an ecosystem of applications, partners and service providers, they can unlock the value of their data and thereby increase productivity, operational efficiency and sustainability, while accelerating innovation. Bry Dillon, senior vice president of partners and business development at AVEVA, explains how the company is working with Microsoft to help industrial businesses build the data ecosystems of the future.

What is the ‘Ecosystems of the Future’ strategy, and how does it support a connected industrial economy?

Today’s industrial organisations are increasingly reliant on – and optimised by – data-driven insights. This means their value chains are both connected and interdependent. Their success depends on the Ecosystem of the Future: a network of suppliers, vendors, customers and value chain partners sharing information for mutual business value and to help accelerate sustainability ambitions. This type of ecosystem enables seamless communication, optimised operations and improved decision-making within the industrial landscape.

Data is the ultimate strategic resource. By tapping into industrial ecosystems, it’s possible to maximise this resource by breaking down silos, driving efficiency and sustainability, accelerating innovation and generating new opportunities. All these factors result in a competitive advantage over isolated companies, establishing a strong foundation for ecosystem players and ensuring future success.

In addition, connected companies benefit from better supply chain management, enhanced customer experiences, cost reduction, risk mitigation and business resilience.

How does the Ecosystems of the Future model facilitate partners working together and how can this spur innovation?

Partnerships are a powerful way to drive innovation quickly and effectively. When multiple entities combine their unique and complementary strengths by sharing data, tackling looming business challenges, including our collective race to net zero, becomes easier. In this way, data ecosystems represent the next wave of digital transformation. They leverage a trusted network of technologies to connect industrial operators and their partners.

If they are part of an industrial data ecosystem, organisations gain access to new capabilities or expertise they may not have in-house. More importantly, a unified view across the value chain enables enterprises to discover crucial new insights that enhance their abilities amid a changing business environment.

When this industrial intelligence is powered by artificial intelligence and shared in the cloud, every value chain participant – including partners – can visualise routes to co-innovation and improved efficiency, productivity and sustainability.

How can these ecosystems help developers to collaborate to create solutions that make businesses more efficient and sustainable?

The competitive advantages gained from secure data-sharing communities strengthen trusted developer relationships. By adding context to real-time data, companies can expedite research and development, innovate together and mutually enhance competitive advantages.

Around the world, developers are already leveraging the connected ecosystem to drive positive outcomes. The ability to share standard-format granular data openly and securely with third parties supports the development of new sustainability innovations and heightened business resilience.

For example, as global regulation and compliance demands increase, there remains a colossal opportunity for developers to assist industrial operators in reporting on environmental, social and governance targets. By viewing unified value chain data in context, developers can help surface and make accessible the interdependent areas where sustainability action can have the greatest impact, such as reduced emissions and better regulatory compliance.

How does AVEVA Data Hub support the Ecosystem of the Future?

By leveraging software-as-a-service (SaaS) capabilities through our AVEVA Connect industrial cloud platform, AVEVA Data Hub removes the barriers to data sharing using the scale and flexibility of the cloud. AVEVA Data Hub provides secure access to real-time data to users in remote locations or outside the organisation’s network.

As a fully managed cloud-native SaaS, AVEVA Data Hub is ready to use from day one and can be expanded on demand without additional infrastructure or IT staff. With AVEVA Data Hub, businesses can more easily explore AI and predictive analytics, monitor remote assets, increase sustainability, and connect to the Ecosystem of the Future.

AVEVA and Microsoft have expanded their strategic collaboration to further strengthen both companies’ data integration platforms. How will the partnership benefit businesses?

The agreement will help to better prepare customers to incorporate AI in key industries across the world and see greater synergy between industrial cloud platform AVEVA Connect and data analytics solution Microsoft Fabric. They are designed to streamline the process of collecting, transforming, and unifying data from various sources. They help gather data from different parts of an organisation’s operations, including manufacturing processes, supply chains and other relevant systems. These platforms offer tools for data cleansing, transformation and enrichment, making the data more consistent and useful for downstream applications and preparing data to power AI capabilities.

We’re excited about Microsoft Fabric because it makes data more accessible. It enables the data to be processed in a uniform manner and at a streamlined frequency, making it more predictable and manageable.

The unique combination of Microsoft’s end-to-end solutions in the cloud and AVEVA’s deep industry expertise and software applications helps businesses capitalise on the power of technology to become more agile, resilient and sustainable.

To learn how industrial data ecosystems can spark innovation watch a webinar with Bry Dillon and Yury Gomez, global chief commercial and strategy officer for Microsoft’s process manufacturing industry division, on the AVEVA website

This article was originally published in the Winter 2023 issue of Technology Record. To get future issues delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for a free subscription.

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