Industrial System Integrators converge at CSIA

The month of April is a busy month for manufacturing. In Europe, the annual Hannover Messe event kicks off in a few weeks and is one of the largest international events focused on industrial technology. If you would like to read more on Hannover Messe and Cisco’s participation, my colleague Scot Wlodarczak recently shared a blog on the event which you can find here.

That same week on the West Coast, the Control System Integrator Association (CSIA) will hold their annual executive eventin San Francisco, April 24-27, at the Hyatt Regency in San Francisco. The event will host more than 500 system integrators and industry partners with a “Growth Through Innovation and Sound Business Practices” theme.  Cisco is a Diamond Sponsor and we will have several of our technical architects on hand to talk with the system integrator community about technology affecting this space, architectural best practices and design as well as considerations for working with new and existing customers. Cisco’s Tony Rigoni will also be leading a break out session on the “Evolution of the SI Role” on Wednesday, April 25 from 2:15-3:00 PM.

An overview of Tony’s session is noted below:

The system integrator role is evolving from being project-centric into a long-term solutions partner who can help manufacturing clients in critical areas such as security, IT/OT convergence and implementation of industrial IOT. Manufacturers are increasingly working with system integrators toward digital transformation as an extension of their internal teams. System integrators (SIs) will especially benefit from digital transformation. Their reputations are built on the implementation of critical manufacturing projects, as well as their expertise in developing them up. SIs have long been at the forefront of architecture design, installation, project management and training, and support of new technologies. The shift to digital manufacturing could also shift the conversation for SI’s from one-off projects to larger lifecycle projects and new annuity streams that ultimately deepen relationships with their manufacturing customers. This session is completely dedicated to the SI business and focuses on where SIs can make themselves more relevant and more integrated with their customers. In this session, SIs will learn about the technology affecting this space, as well as best practices, architecture design, and key considerations for working with customers.

Cisco will also be located in booth 73 during the vendor sessions on Wednesday the 25th.

Cisco is a proud member of CSIA and have partnered with them on a webinar recently on how system integrators can harness the digital opportunity. You can find the replay here.

Cisco also has an ecosystem built for industry partners known as the Digital Solution Integrator (DSI) program who are trusted advisors focused on line of business outcomes through the delivery of industry solutions. Some examples of the focus areas DSI partners help customers include:

Industrial security assessments

Deployment and assessment of wireless in industrial environments

Industrial network architecture and design

To learn more about the Cisco DSI program click here.