"We strive to continuously deliver an efficient IoT architecture, i.e. the one ensuring unicity and authenticity of device, integrity of the firmware installed on it, and confidentiality of data."

Staffan Dahlström, President & CEO at HMS Networks and Francis Vander Ghinst, General Manager - Business Unit Ewon answered IEN Europe about their actuality as well as the implications of today’s challenges on security for IoT

  • Staffan Dahlström, President & CEO - HMS Networks
    Staffan Dahlström, President & CEO - HMS Networks
  • Francis Vander Ghinst, General Manager - Business Unit Ewon
    Francis Vander Ghinst, General Manager - Business Unit Ewon
  • The Ewon Flexi, enabler of industrial remote access
    The Ewon Flexi, enabler of industrial remote access

IEN Europe: In this critical time of the pandemic, how can your solutions give a hand to companies working with reduced staff or remotely?

Overall, the pandemic accelerates digitalization but also demonstrates why industrials need to get access to their equipment, anytime, from anywhere. Industrials don’t want to risk bringing Covid-19 in their factory and – anyway - most of us are not even allowed to travel. By bringing an easy and safe way to allow remote access to machines and data, Ewon is helping companies to secure business continuity. 

IEN Europe: Which kind of contribution does HMS Networks brings to industrial connectivity? 

Our mission is to enable valuable data and insights from industrial equipment allowing our customers to increase productivity and sustainability. We allow our customers to get machines and devices connected – to industrial networks, other machines or the Internet. 

IEN Europe: What are the today’s main challenges on security for IoT? What is your vision of an efficient IoT architecture?

The very fast development of the Internet of Things will see billions of devices connected mostly through clouds. They will exchange tremendous amounts of data, and data is the new Eldorado and as such attract bad guys

The main challenges we see are: 
- The exponential market growth that goes with a broad diversity of manufacturers and the very diverse level of cybersecurity they provide.
- The use of counterfeited components and devices.
- The lack of updates and follow-up: some manufacturers are just popup manufacturing a trending device and disappearing months after, other just want to release new products as fast as possible without properly testing new ones, and ensuring security updates of older ones. 

We strive to continuously deliver an efficient IoT architecture, i.e. the one ensuring unicity and authenticity of device, integrity of the firmware installed on it, and confidentiality of data.

IEN Europe: How can your solutions help comply with the security demands of the end users?

Customers should at least check in what they put their confidence. Ewon is present on the market since 20 years, is part of an international group, HMS Networks, and puts security at the cornerstone of its developments. In other words, with more than 310.000 devices connected, Ewon has a reputation and is there to last. 

At Ewon, we address cybersecurity as a chain by making sure that we properly protect our hardware, our software and our cloud. We work with several layers of protection so the potential failure of one layer is not enough to compromise the entire security approach. The ISO certification we have, together with our partnership with NVISO, an expert in cybersecurity, provides just a taste of how seriously we approach cybersecurity. We are dedicated to guarantee a minimum of 99.5% cloud availability through our SLA. In a nutshell, by choosing Ewon, customers also buy a professional dedicated protection.

IEN Europe: Regarding the ever-growing amount of data, how can your solutions help save energy while improving productivity?

HMS's main contribution to sustainable development is developing and manufacturing products that make energy conservation and energy efficient production possible

HMS products lower energy consumption in the industrial sector. Remote monitoring solutions make a large contribution here, because they reduce or eliminate the need to travel. But not only as the amount of data available is exploding. By helping our clients to select and package those data, we help them saving energy and improving productivity. 

IEN Europe: What are the implications in the acquisition of Procentec? How did your collaboration start?

As stated by Staffan Dahlström at the time of the acquisition last year, “Procentec fills a gap in HMS’ offering within communication infrastructure. Industrial networks are vital in industrial processes, and Procentec’s products and services improve uptime and data availability significantly in these critical networks. With Procentec, HMS gets access to an aftermarket business related to the huge installed base of industrial networks globally, positioning HMS much closer to the end users of industrial networks. This is a very interesting new dimension for HMS given the fact that we today mainly supply products to device manufacturers and machine builders”. The collaboration has started out very well and Procentec has quickly become an important member of the HMS group.

IEN Europe: In the future do you consider the development of new market segments?

HMS is always looking to identify new interesting areas within Industrial ICT with good potential. So yes, we expect further expansion into new segments going forward, both organically and through acquisitions.

IEN Europe: In your opinion, what changes will bring 5G in industrial communication? What benefits will it bring to the factory? 

With 5G in a factory, users benefit from a robust wireless network, which meets industrial demands in terms of communication speeds and security – along with all the flexibility and mobility that comes with wireless.

IEN Europe: How can HMS Networks benefit from 5G?

HMS solutions for industrial communication, remote access and IoT fit perfectly within the 5G context. It is still early days for the 5G in the industry, but HMS recently announced the launch of the world’s first industrial 5G routers for commercial use, along with starter kits which allow users to get going with 5G in an industrial environment. The Wireless Router 5G supports Ericsson Industry Connect 5G networks and allows users to get started with 5G in their own location.

IEN Europe: Can you tell us more about your next product release?

On the Ewon side, we focus on delivering information and insights to our customers through our remote access and data solutions. We strive to deliver easier solutions ready for tomorrow’s challenges. 

The current situation demonstrated how important it is for machine builders and for end users to be able to get access to their equipment remotely. This acceleration into IIoT goes together with an increasing appetite for security. It’s with that in mind that we’ll release, just before the summer, a new solution that will capitalize on the experienced gained during the last twenty years and bring Industrial Remote Access to new grounds. Not a revolution but rather an evolution that will define the new standards in the industry. Stay tuned ! 

Anis Zenadji

Graduated in political sciences and international relations in Paris, Anis joined the team in early 2019. Editor for IEN Europe and the new digital magazine AI IEN, he is a new tech enthusiast. Also passionate about sports, music, cultures and languages. 

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