Intro


This blog is dedicated to open, interoperable manufacturing software and the coolest, latest and greatest things I see every day while conducting business under the banner of Inductive Automation.

Hello, my name is Steve Hechtman and I am president of Inductive Automation. During the span of one day there is more excitement, more discovery than I can possibly keep to myself. This blog is, therefore, my outlet. WARNING: This site is highly biased in favor of the most powerful, affordable manufacturing software in the world - Ignition by Inductive Automation!

"Sounds too good to be true."

I keep hearing over and over that our software "sounds too good to be true" (followed by the refrain "but I can't find anything wrong with it"). But why would someone say it sounds too good to be true?

Sure, with Ignition you can launch hundreds of client applications (seats) for free, sure there are unlimited free data points, sure you can launch one (or a dozen) developer seats for free, sure there is an unlimited data point historian included for free as well and and I could go on and on. But still, why does it sound too good to be true?

Could it be that some people are highly suspicious of the big automation software vendors? Could it be that there is a fear that we would suddenly switch gears and start charging for these things later? I suppose that both of these things could be the case but both are unfounded fears because that's not our gig.

The thing is, we have an entirely different philosophy. We learned long ago that price gouging suppresses progress. It's been said that business runs mainly on Excel spreadsheets. My experience bears this out. But why spreadsheets? Because they are cheap, simple and easy to understand. They get the job done.

That is why we have hassle-free licensing. That is why we sell by the server only. That is why we are penetrating into the areas where there were only spreadsheets before and this is the way we want to play the game. We are happiest when we KNOW we are giving our customers value in abundance.