Kepware Technologies announces the purchase of all COI Software assets including
the iSNMP related products and PATENT for Integrating Network
Management
with Process Control.
RELEASE:
September 11, 2007 -- Kepware Technologies of Portland, Maine, U.S.A. announces that they have purchased all rights to
the COI Software Brand, Website, and iSNMP
products, including COI Software's patent on "System and Method for Integrating Process Control and Network Management" (U.S. Patent No. 6,728,262).
Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP) allows a range of
operational parameters typically related to
network performance and device management to
be actively monitored with little if any network
bandwidth usage. Using the iSNMP OPC Server
software product, automation engineers can
easily integrate the monitoring and management
of their Ethernet network devices into their
OPC client-enabled HMI, Historian, or Alarm
package. This product is designed to enable
automation and control engineers to monitor
the health and operation of their IT infrastructure,
without becoming an IT expert and without assistance from their IT department.
Additionally, many large corporate and plant
level IT departments use simple network management protocol as a tool
to monitor the network performance and health of their IT infrastructure.
However, most industrial assets such as PLCs and HMIs are not SNMP-enabled.
There is no standard way to integrate their data into their existing
network management systems. iSNMP Agent is a companion product to the
iSNMP
OPC Server that allows data taken from OPC servers to be made
available on an SNMP enabled network. With iSNMP Agent, existing network
management tools can now monitor data from PLCs and other OPC-enabled
data sources.
According to Kepware's VP of Sales and Marketing – Roy Kok, "The
purchase of the iSNMP OPC Server and iSNMP Agent products are a perfect
complement to Kepware's existing connectivity products. In addition
to our wide range of OPC servers, we can now offer the tools our customers
need to monitor network operation to ensure reliable access to their
network data. The Patent with regard to this technology enables Kepware
to be the "Industry Standard" and will benefit the market by enabling a common infrastructure for layered
and adjunct developments."
Stephen Woram, founder of COI Software said "Kepware
is uniquely qualified to support the loyal, world-wide customer base
of our iSNMP products. I am confident that our customers will experience
a smooth transition to ownership by Kepware. Kepware is committed to
the support and growth of these products and their name recognition
in automation should dramatically raise the visibility of industrial
SNMP."
"As Ethernet devices continue to grow in number
and importance on the plant floor, SNMP's importance to manufacturing
operations will grow also", according to Craig Resnick, Research Director for ARC Advisory Group. "This stems from the opportunity to leverage SNMP to derive greater value from
manufacturing operations. Increasingly SNMP will serve as a foundation
for visualization dashboards monitoring production assets and for Real-time
Performance Management (RPM) measures applied to those assets. Kepware's
relationship with most of the leading automation suppliers, along with
their role in providing communication solutions to end users and OEMs,
appropriately positions them to be a provider of this technology to
the market."
ABOUT KEPWARE: Kepware
is the world leader in communication software for automation and offers
unique experience in both OPC and embedded device communications. Since
its beginning in 1995, Kepware has focused on the development of communication
drivers to automation controllers, I/O and field devices. Operating
system support includes; Microsoft Windows Desktop, Windows Server
and Windows Embedded (Windows CE and Windows Embedded NT/XP). Today,
with over 100 communication protocols, and through the efforts of our
direct sales, distribution and embedded partners, Kepware is the leading
provider of communications with annual shipments exceeding 100,000 units. Kepware's responsiveness to customer needs and strong partnerships
with other leading automation suppliers ensure that your next application
will be a success. Ask around and you'll hear why automation professionals
everywhere consider Kepware Technologies "Automation's Best Friend". (http://www.kepware.com)
Media Contact:
Tony Hartford
Director of Marketing
Kepware
207-775-1660 x204 Tony.Hartford@Kepware.com
