How many patches did that take???

Wow! Our integration sister company was upgrading a major HMI vendor's software this last week and it took tons of patches and tech support to get it running. I won't mention this company by name but I will tell you that it has huge market share. Probably the largest.

So how long does it take a trained expert (in their software) to upgrade from one major version to a couple above that? Bear in mind that this end-user paid for and got all the software disks for this upgrade. Out of the box it didn't work. It took five support calls, two service pack upgrades, two patches and one hot-fix to get it mostly going. There are still problems with tag database importing from the older version and work is being done on getting graphics to come across the versions still.

Maybe from an integrator's point of view this is a good thing ... you know, lots of billable hours. But as far as I'm concerned those hours could be spent on something more constructive for the end-user of this software.

Later on in this chain of events this company learned that our sister company was the one doing the work and immediately made the mental connection with Inductive Automation (even though they are two separate entities). Then they refused to provide any further support even though the end-user paid dearly for annual support.

This I take as the ultimate compliment. The market leader petrified of us? Now that is real progress.

Actually, I don't blame them. When you consider that our install only takes three minutes, that it works first time every time and that we can even do hot upgrades it's got to be scary for them.

The biggest risk I run with my saying that is best reflected in my earlier post "The Three Minute Misconception" wherein an analyst told me he thought Ignition software would be good for only lightweight applications only because it only takes three minutes to install. Of course that drives me crazy because I know, as do our customers, that Ignition actually does far more for far less cost. About a 3–10x cost advantage and as far as functionality goes it leaves the rest in the dust!

Why Java?

By now, most know that the Ignition by Inductive Automation platform is programmed in Java. But why?

Few people know that Java is the most popular programming language in the world (See the TIOBE Programming Community Index for September 2010). Java runs on more types of consumer and embedded devices, smart cards, ATMs, thin clients, PCs, servers, and mainframes than any other language.

Additionally, Java is the "write once, run anywhere" language. This is a major reason we selected Java. By writing Ignition in Java it runs equally well on Linux as it does on OSX, Windows or Solaris. Come to think of it, isn't every version of Windows a different platform? Well, Java spans them all. We don't care who wins the operating system wars or even if no one does.

Java is also highly resistant to viruses. Java appears to have been developed with security as a first concern rather than as an afterthought patch-up. That makes it ideally suited to the industrial environment.

With over five million Java programmers (which makes Java the largest developer community) it is far easier to hire software developers than for other languages, especially right out of school.

Rather than following the flock (look at it, every other major HMI company requires Windows) we took a step back and evaluated what language provided the most portability, security, stability and support—and Java was the clear winner.

Get IT On Your Side and They'll Seal the Deal For You

As you expand past plant floor controls you begin to enter into the domain of IT. But when you do so you will begin to work with IT folks. Believe me, you want IT on your side or your project will end up on a data island which is useless in an enterprise system.

So how do you do that? Well, first of all you better find out what hardware and software the IT department is willing to support. When I make initial contact with IT folks, I always ask what technology they use. Then I assure them we’ll work with that. This generally makes them very happy. You have to learn to work with them within their envelope. You're not in a position to try and cram something else down their throat. It is only by standardization that they can support huge corporate networks without the job becoming onerous.

The next thing I do is use their terms and refer to the technology they are currently using. If the system you are proposing isn't something they are familiar with or if it uses 1990's technology like DCOM, then you better ditch it and find something else. In short, if they can't relate to it without a bunch of specialized training (which isn't likely to happen) then your project is probably going to die.

But the reverse is true if you can talk their terms and they can wrap their arms around the technology.

IT Could Be Your Best Friend For Sales
In this case, IT is likely to be your biggest proponent and can help you get your project pushed through. I've personally been involved in these situations many times. In one case I had the buy-in of the plant manager, maintenance manager and production manager but I said "now let's get together with you IT department."

The plant manager said "are you SURE you want to do that?" and I said "Yes."

At the start of the meeting the two IT guys had their arms crossed and looked resentful. First I asked them what relational database they used and they said MSSQL Server indignantly. I said great, that's what we use and they perked up a bit.

Then I went to the white board and laid out the system in terms I knew would be acceptable to them. They asked a lot of questions but I answered each in alignment with technology I knew they already were using. Somewhere in the middle of this I saw them flip from being adversarial to helpful. They started asking things like "When do you need this by?", "How much memory do you need?", "Can we run it on a virtual machine?" and in fact they became allies which sealed the deal.

It is an amazing thing to watch how fast EVERYONE else buys-in when IT does. Like I say. You better have them on your side.