General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is planning to make an entry into the IoT industry with further plans to become a market leader.
The company announced the plans at the beginning of the week with a statement that it will create a new unit that will solely focus on dominating the Internet of things market. The new unit will be called GE Digital and is expected to integrate with the company’s software center. This way, GE’s global IT and commercial software teams will have access to the unit so they can influence its further development.
Bill Ruh will head the company’s new business model. Mr. Ruh is General Electric’s former vice president and global technology director. He was recently appointed as the company’s chief digital officer. GE plans to evolve into the leading digital industrial firm ahead of rival IoT firms such as International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM). Part of GE’s plan is to provide the market with the best industrial software solutions to alleviate most of the problems in the world. GE’s Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt added that the company’s goal is to grow into a firm that will attract the digital world. He also projected that the company will be among the top ten software firms in the world by 2020.
GE’s plans point towards a competition against IBM. The latter announced yesterday that it has created two business units that will link with Big Blue’s portfolio in Big Data, Watson, IoT and educative markets. Harriet Green will be the new vice president and general manager of GE’s new unit. She is the former CEO and executive director of the Thomas Cook Group.
GE’s plan to venture into the digital and IoT market have been brewing since 2013 with minor hints towards the shift. Though the company has a long way to go, there is a lot of anticipation on what the company will bring to the table. The announcement is the firm’s recent move since it started disposing of its banking business.
