The Critical Role of Communication Networks in Digital Transformation

Industry modernization involves digital transformation. Upgrading automation in industrial and business environments make it possible to conduct operational processes digitally and provide tools for making informed decisions. These processes of change affect the infrastructure of the organization, including its communication network.

Process digitization is based on ongoing collection of information from all components of the business environment to optimize business processes (for example, supply chain management). This also includes the ability to apply AI-based planning tools, fault prediction and optimal resource utilization.

RAD provides full stack IoT solutions that enable the necessary flow of information in modern industry. "The industry is undergoing a significant change across all its verticals: manufacturing plants, electricity and energy companies, infrastructure companies, transportation companies, medical entities, and more," says Moshe Shimon, VP Product and Marketing at RAD. "Everyone is interested in implementing automated business processes to improve operations, and RAD is building the advanced communication infrastructures for them to support such processes.

"Monitoring is also becoming critical: management wants - and needs - to monitor planning, production, supply chain, maintenance, fault detection, and utilization of various resources," he notes. "In some work environments, smart industrial robots locomote themselves, and new production surveillance technologies, based on augmented and virtual reality, are frequently introduced. In these places, communication networks must be upgraded to include features such as secure connectivity, ultra-fast information reception and response, smart sensors, and more. RAD makes all this possible, in addition to enabling the connection of devices that were not previously connected to the corporate network. This is how maximum automation and monitoring are achieved."

The winning combination of private 5G networks and IoT
Business campuses of large companies are now adopting 5G technology as a private infrastructure that works alongside the WiFi network, thanks in part to its ability to generate wide coverage in open and closed areas, at the same time connecting to mobile equipment. "It starts out as a tactical move, with the aim of tailoring specific solutions, but it will become strategic," Shimon explains. "New devices will certainly support 5G, but there will always remain devices that require different connectivity. That's where we come in with solutions that enable integration. We offer the organization the ability to connect machines working with different interfaces and protocols to a range of communication networks - including 5G - using IoT gateway products. With such a solution, traffic can be distributed over more than one link, for example, connecting simultaneously to 5G and WiFi to increase the reliability of network connectivity. It also supports various security solutions, whether they are installed on top of the product itself or provided
off the cloud."

- In other words, the gateway offers its own security?
"Yes. IoT-based sensors and devices are known to be a weak link, and are susceptible to security breaches. Our solution plays an important role in identifying and blocking attacks. Our product has built-in advanced security capabilities as well as the ability to identify all the devices that are connected to it. The gateway samples the network traffic passing through it to the cloud, where AI tools are used to analyze the traffic and identify cyberattacks."

Solving a great challenge to the communication network
RAD predicts that digital transformation will eventually lead to the representation of the entire physical world in the virtual world, where processes will be managed using AI and analytics of various kinds. IoT devices will be dominant as well. Activating all of these will be a massive challenge for the corporate network, which will have to change. Some organizations are already transferring various elements to cloud computing. Others build new networks and often use RAD to do it.

"We are enabling the digital transformation, with the necessary communication changes," says Shimon. "From building a 5G campus network to installing full stack IoT solutions, RAD is the force that enables the organization to change its communication infrastructure, whether directly or through the communication service providers we work with. We have end-to-end solutions, with an infrastructure that includes the appropriate connectivity for new smart devices, from the customer premises or local system, to the cloud. This is accompanied by a SaaS software solution that performs advanced analytics of the information that passes through the network. Based on this analysis, it is possible to make adjustments to the network as required."

- Can you give an example of how a legacy device works on your platform?
"Consider a printing press that works independently, offline. You take its controller and connect it to the IoT Gateway, with cloud communication. This gives operators a job indication, with analysis and analytics, to allow them to handle maintenance better. The connectivity allows data to be divided into several links simultaneously, which improves security. In addition, we can track the traffic of information from the controller, apply AI to it, and thus provide an additional layer of security, ensuring that the device is maintained as a critical resource in the organization. This is an example of a solution to a significant challenge for the network: integrating equipment that has been operating for years or even decades into a modern communication network instead of replacing or upgrading it."

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