DUBAI, UAE, 5th November, 2019- Nutanix, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTNX), a leader in enterprise cloud computing, announced today a partnership with Hardis Group, a consulting, digital services and software publishing company, to deliver Vision Insights powered by Xi IoT, an innovative solution to manage supply chain operations efficiency. Available now, Vision Insights powered by Xi IoT is a supply chain optimisation solution comprised of Hardis Group Vision Insights software running as a container on the Nutanix Xi IoT platform. This solution will help companies harness the potential of cognitive services (image and voice recognition), IoT, edge computing, and machine learning technologies to dramatically improve efficiency, traceability, and safety of logistics and supply chain operations in warehouses, factories and distribution centres.

In a new survey of 2,650 IT decision-makers around the world by Vanson Bourne, commissioned by Nutanix, IoT and edge computing ranked highest among other high-impact technologies and trends as having a “significant impact” overall on respondents’ businesses. In addition, AI and IoT will have a strong impact on supply chain management operations and according to Gartner “by 2023, at least 50 percent of large global companies will be using AI, advanced analytics and IoT in supply chain operations.”[1]

Vision Insights powered by Xi IoT allows Hardis Group’s Vision Insight customers to get easy traceability of assets through real-time image monitoring and recognition. For example, sensor data from cameras, fixed or embedded on systems such as an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) or cart, will be ingested into the Xi IoT platform through data pipelines and passed to Vision Insights for AI inferencing at the edge. This enables the creation of a digital twin of the warehouse and real-time analysis of a situation, which can include comprehensive visibility of a specific logistics process flow, number of pallets incorrectly positioned, wet or damaged package detection, or an operator not equipped with proper safety equipment. Any anomalies in the image recognition are sent to the Hardis Group cloud for deep learning purposes and the entire edge platform is managed by the Xi IoT SaaS management.

By bringing this new solution to market with Hardis Group as part of their new Vision Insights and IoT Insights programs, Nutanix helps its customers address common supply chain operations challenges such as efficiency, traceability and safety. Key benefits of this solution include:

• Ability to centrally deploy, secure, monitor and manage the lifecycle of supply chain applications and AI models across thousands of edge locations
• Capability to seamlessly work with existing remote camera deployments for a quick path to ROI
• Support for a large variety of edge hardware devices to accommodate nearly any logistics facility

By partnering with Nutanix’s Xi IoT platform, Hardis Group was able to focus on the business logic behind their Vision Insights program, and dramatically decrease the time to develop the application, go-to-market, onboard and prove ROI to its customers, as well as drastically improve IoT security, app debuggability and manageability.

“Historically, warehouse and supply chain managers have had to rely on manual processes to track warehouse logistics. With our joint solution, we’re helping customers improve the logistics performance in their factories, including upstream and downstream of their production lines, from the moment their components and raw materials arrive on-site, to storage and shipment of finished products. Customers can now seamlessly track and control routine processes through automation and IoT to improve efficiency, traceability and safety,” said Satyam Vaghani, Senior Vice President and General Manager of AI and IoT at Nutanix. “This partnership will bring better management of customer's logistics flows by leveraging AI, advanced analytics and IoT to improve supply chain operations.”

“When we started developing this solution in the cloud, we quickly realised we needed a partner who was able to operationalise this at industrial scale at the edge. Nutanix and its Xi IoT platform was the right partner to assist us in doing so,” said Nicolas Odet, CEO of Hardis Group. “By working with Nutanix, we were able to drastically reduce the time this innovative solution was brought to market for our customers and help them accelerate their supply chain and digital transformation. We’re excited to continue working with Nutanix to scale and deploy these solutions worldwide.”