April 23, 2012 – Cisco announced the Industrial Ethernet (IE) 2000 switch series. The Cisco IE2000 industrial switch series will help customers build intelligent networks for industrial automation, delivering highly secure, scalable connectivity from plant floor to enterprise network. The Cisco IE2000 switch series builds on the company’s enterprise networking expertise and existing Industrial Ethernet family of switches, delivering reliable and highly secure network connectivity to unique manufacturing environments. With the IE2000 switch series, Cisco continues its leadership in providing intelligent networks that simplify the deployment of security, video and voice services for machine-to-machine communications on the manufacturing floor and industrial IP networks.
According to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index (VNI), by 2016, there will be nearly 2 billion machine-to-machine wireless connections – including GPS systems in cars and asset tracking systems in shipping and manufacturing sectors – demonstrating the need to more tightly connect and integrate devices, machines and vehicles with traditional enterprise networks. The resulting transition, which Cisco refers to as “The Industrialization of the Internet,” will accelerate the networking industry beyond the IT and service provider (SP) networks in industries such as manufacturing and transportation. Cisco is uniquely positioned to address these new demands on industrial networks, which require a greater need for improved inter-connectivity across industrial equipment and enterprise networks.
The Cisco IE2000 switch series provides consistent network services between industrial networks and enterprise business applications, while also providing integrated security and better manageability – creating a truly intelligent network. The Cisco IE2000 industrial switch series also provides highly secure remote access and monitoring of automated systems and offers intelligent energy management with visibility into machine performance to help customers better manage costs. The IE 2000 industrial switch interoperates corporate and manufacturing floor networks in a cost-effective manner to deliver video and corporate applications to manufacturing plant floor.