Siemens

Siemens is focused sharply on product design and factory automation with a significant investment in product life-cycle management software. The company's MindSphere platform is explicitly designed to connect assets at industrial plants in an automated production environment. The German company's comprehensive data hosting platform also offers data-based services such as machine tool analytics and energy analytics.

Jagannath Rao, head of data driven services at Siemens Digital Factory, told CRN that the company plans to better entrench itself in the U.S. through building out its North American channel from its existing partnerships, including with Accenture and Atos. "Our goal is simple – to scale up and get as many customers connected as possible … through building out our go-to-market channels, through systems integrators and distributors," he said.