How To Choose a System Integrator

As modern organizations look to improve operations with new forms of automation, one question always comes up first: “Where do I start?"

Odds are, these days you need an integrator.

As experts in connecting OT and IT, control system integrators bridge the gap between the plant floor and information technology. Take a tour of Inductive Automation’s Find an Integrator tool to find which integrator can help you achieve your goals.

Transcript: 

00:00
Bryson Prince: Every organization is looking to improve their operations, no matter the industry. While the average person might think of automation as a fleet of autonomous robots, automation solutions can be as diverse as they are beneficial. These days, most upgrades come from implementing new forms of automation. An automation project can be as relatively simple as connecting plant floor machinery to a new database, or automating data collection for a single piece of equipment, or logging electronic forms to reduce paper usage.

00:29
Bryson Prince: Alternatively, an automation solution can be as large scale as an enterprise-wide reinvention, or as complicated as implementing state-of-the-art SCADA and MES systems plus a unified namespace. And why not? Let's splurge on that fleet of AI powered autonomous robots while we're at it. Big or small, whatever you want to accomplish, one question always comes up first. Where do I start? Odds are, these days you need an integrator. Control system integrators bridge the gap between the plant floor and information technology. As experts in connecting OT and IT, they'll walk you through the process of implementing your solution of choice. And that solution is generally customized to meet your organization's specific needs.

01:11
Bryson Prince: Now maybe you're saying to yourself, but I have engineers on staff. Why use an integrator? Setting aside the fact that your engineers have their own jobs to do, integrators can employ their specialized knowledge to help you through the ins and outs of choosing the right software and hardware. So now that you know what you need, how do you go about finding and then choosing an integrator? There's the search engine standby, but that will only give you certain results and put you at the mercy of SEO. But that's a different conversation.

01:38
Bryson Prince: Inductive Automation's Find an Integrator tool gives you everything you need to decide which integrator is right for your organization. Before we get into how the tool works, let's take a quick moment to say that Inductive Automation is not an integrator. At IA, we make the industrial automation software platform Ignition that many integrators use to create solutions for organizations in virtually every industry across the globe. But IA does not compete with integrators, and that's why we built this integrator search tool.

02:10
Bryson Prince: Right at the top, you'll find the search bar. Maybe you went ahead and googled a few local integrators already. Type their names in to get a little extra background. The neat thing about the search function is that it will autocomplete as you type. For those who skipped googling, the tool automatically shows you integrators close to your location. The colors of the indicators on the map correspond to that integrator certification level in Inductive Automation's integrator program. To give a quick overview of what that means, IA's integrator program ensures a specific level of competency with our Ignition platform at various levels. If you're searching for an integrator to implement an Ignition system, this is a filter you should pay close attention to. That's not to say that these integrators will only recommend Ignition, they just know how to use it expertly.

02:53
Bryson Prince: You can filter the integrators that show up on that map by their certification level using the Minimum Integrator Level filtering option on the side. Above that, we have the Industry filter. Unlike the other filtering options, Industry has its own dedicated search bar because there are so many industries to choose from. If, for example, we type in food, the dropdown gives us plenty of options related to food & bev. Let's stay pretty general and select food & beverage. Now the results have narrowed to only integrators with proven Ignition projects in that industry.

03:27
Bryson Prince: Keep in mind that even as you narrow down the results, you can sort by distance from your location, certification level or alphabetical order. The rest of the filtering options include Enterprise, IIoT and MES specializations that recognize high-level expertise in areas such as organization-wide implementations, IIoT communications, or MES processes like OEE or Track & Trace. If the integrator has international locations or is willing to travel, a filter to limit search results to only your state or country, whether the integrator has an office within a specified distance from your location and recognition.

04:07
Bryson Prince: We'll get to what recognition means in a moment, but first let's select an integrator. Clicking on an integrator's name will lead you to that integrator's page. From here you'll be able to take a closer look at specific offices, including the certification level of staff at that particular location. The page additionally displays the company overview to give a more comprehensive description of the company along with specializations and industries that the integrator has verified Ignition experience in.

04:35
Bryson Prince: Before we leave you to explore which integrator is right for you, let's return to that recognition filter. We at Inductive Automation like to recognize the accomplishments of the integrators who use our software. So every month we track who the top selling integrators are and then at the end of the calendar year we crown an Integrator of the Year. That last filter is for when you want to ensure the integrator you choose is the best of the best. Whether you're ready to start searching right now, or whether this has inspired you to see which integrators are in your area, check out the Find an integrator tool and get the support you need to improve your operations.