Schneider Electric, a leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, has launched a new connected services offering. The Cybersecure Remote Connection has been developed in collaboration with Claroty, a leading security company for cyber-physical systems across industrial, healthcare, and commercial environments.
Maintaining cybersecurity for physical assets is a critical issue: “Without a cybersecure way to connect, services teams were limited to either providing remote phone support or taking the time and expense to travel to a site,” said Jessica Owen, APAC Connected Services Lead with Schneider Electric. “This new offering enables support teams to see and analyse as much information, at speed, as they would have access to on site.” The customer controls all access and system security is protected by Claroty’s end-to-end encryption and secure authentication.
Once activated, the Cybersecure Remote Connection acts as a frictionless, reliable, and highly secure remote access gateway to the OT environment, letting Schneider Electric experts operate remotely. For industries like manufacturing and resources, prompt resolution of problems translates into millions of dollars captured in production optimisation. When problems lead to downtime, even more money is at stake: unplanned downtime costs industrial manufacturers an estimated $50 billion per year (Deloitte).
“Schneider Electric’s process automation is leading the digital space by offering customers a complete portfolio of remote, connected services with this new offering,” said Nick Nindra, APJ Channel Sales Lead at Claroty. “We are proud to facilitate this advance with the Claroty platform, which is purpose-built for the unique operational, administrative, and security needs of industrial networks. It’s as if the expert providing support is right there in the control room, and the connection is as quick as making a phone call,” Nindra explains.
Connected services provide a clear advantage by significantly reducing mean time to repair in several ways:
- When an alarm alerts operators to a problem and they call for support, customers can activate the Cybersecure Remote Connection and their Schneider Electric support engineer can commence resolution activities immediately upon logging in, instead of relying on traditional over-the-phone communication.
- Many issues that would have previously required the additional time and expense of travel can now be resolved quickly and efficiently through Cybersecure Remote Connection’s virtual portal. In cases where site attendance is still required to resolve the issue, the support engineer will arrive at the plant already knowing the full details of the situation and equipped to resolve the matter faster.
- The Cybersecure Remote Connection also enables ongoing system health checks. Experts from Schneider Electric's Connected Services team can log in as often as a customer wants to run a health check and proactively address issues.
Businesses today rely on digital, connected technology to remain competitive. Schneider Electric has designed its digital service offerings to help customers extract the most value from their connected assets. Expert engineers combine their proficiencies with cutting-edge technology to analyse data and proactively identify the intervention areas that can bring the most value to customers. The Claroty platform provides the cybersecure gateway that brings customers and Schneider Electric’s digital services experts together for even faster, more efficient, and always secure collaboration.
With digitisation, the rate of internet-connected devices connecting people-to-people, people-to-devices, and devices-to-devices is accelerating rapidly. Schneider Electric’s connected services help customers extract the most value from connected assets. Using cutting-edge technology in a cybersecure connection while leveraging expert engineers allows Schneider Electric to deliver reactive, proactive, and predictive maintenance for connected assets. From real-time management of maintenance activities to predicting hardware failure, Schneider can ensure that customers avoid unplanned downtime and maximise plant and asset efficiency.
Schneider Electric’s digital offerings continue to evolve and grow to empower continuing digital transformation for customers, and Cybersecure Remote Connection is the newest addition.