WebNMS
Open IoT Platform Increases ROI of Enterprise investments in High Value Assets

WebNMS specializes in scalable solutions for multi-vendor network management, service orchestration and IoT/ M2M applications. WebNMS markets these solutions as open, extensible platforms to network service providers, managed service providers and enterprises. With more than 25,000 deployments across the globe, their flagship WebNMS Framework is the world’s first choice for scalable and reliable multi-vendor management.

WebNMS is a division of Zoho Corporation, based in Pleasanton, California. Since its inception in 1996, Zoho has grown consistently through organic product development from its self-sustaining business that includes Manage Engine and Zoho.com as well as WebNMS.

WebNMS is aggressively expanding its Internet of Things (IoT) product line, which is centered on the WebNMSIoT Platform. This open software platform focuses on B2B IoT and M2M applications that enable Enterprises to increase the ROI of their high-value assets. WebNMS also offers ready-to-deploy IoT applications that remotely manage high value Enterprise assets. For example, the company offers ATM Site Manager, Cell Tower Manager, Power Grid Monitoring and Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) applications, to name a few.

One example of a WebNMS application is in a recent smart grid deployment in India. A large, transmission and distribution (T&D) company used their Power Grid Monitoring application to reduce outages and expedite fault detection. The WebNMS solution unified several management silos and reduced time to repair (TTR) and overall outages by 75 percent. The thrilled power grid operator plans to further unify their grid monitoring on the extensible platform with the help of a WebNMS system integrator partner.
Though it has seen early success with its own applications, WebNMS is strongly committed to providing an open platform that will encourage a robust ecosystem of 3rd party applications. “For hardware vendors and app developers the platform equates to what the ‘Android’ platform gives to device manufacturers and app developers,” explains Ramachandran.

To show the benefits of its open platform, WebNMS points to a recent deployment in a building fire fighting kit. A leading life safety solutions company worked with a WebNMS system integration partner to develop a remote monitoring application on the WebNSMIoT Platform. The remote system ensures that the remote fire fighting kits are in proper working order at all times. This highly reliable and cost-effective solution was deployed with a very short, four week development cycle. For such a small investment, the solution centralized monitoring, integrated with an existing trouble ticket system and improved overall reliability of the kit. The life safety Enterprise, based in the Middle East, has deployed this innovative solution in several regions across the globe. This consolidated monitoring reduced overall OpEx and improved the safety solution ROI.

With our open, IoT platform and robust ecosystem, WebNMS continues to simplify IoT management by integrating multiple sensors, gateways and IoT applications seamlessly into a unified solution

The WebNMSIoT Platforms unifies all aspects of IoT management, from sensors in the field, to gateways, to Big Data analytics in the data center. “Our product is the first to integrate remote sensor monitoring, energy management, security, location management and on-board di¬agnostics in an open platform,” asserts Ramachandran. “We see a great need for integration of many different IoT devices within a real-time, unified system.”

The WebNMS platform acts as a binding agent between a diverse array of sensors, remote hardware and IoT applications. Distributed, scalable WebNMSIoT applications run on remote terminal units (RTUs), gateways and in cloud data centers. Leveraging its experience in multi-vendor network management, WebNMS is in a unique position to aggregate heterogeneous IoT environments. WebNMS has partnered with hardware vendors and application developers around the globe and continues to strengthen its developer ecosystem. As Zoho is a product focused company, WebNMS collaborates with these partners and enables independent developers, providing the platform and tools for them to rapidly and efficiently integrate systems and develop applications. WebNMS often partners with system integrators and developers within specific industry verticals, helping the partners apply their industry expertise to maximum effect without reinventing the wheel.

The modern Enterprise IT user is looking for an end–to–end solution comprising sensors, gateways, software platform, and application as a pre-integrated package. With the rapidly growing arena of Internet of Things (IoT) and every player trying to grab a share of the buzzword-defined market, it becomes arduous for customers to pick out the right solutions. Though many companies are jumping into this space, WebNMS differentiates itself with the scope of its open platform, its investment in ecosystem development and its expertise in multi-vendor unification. Emphasizes Ramachandran, “We are coming to IoT with a track record of success with flexible, open software frameworks. IoT will be a complex ecosystem and we plan to make that complexity easy to manage.”