Why ABB Is a Software Company

ABB’s software is everywhere Why ABB is a software company

Martin Naedele – ABB has been called “the biggest company that nobody knows”. Its products – though essential for the quality of life of hundreds of millions of people – do not target the consumer market. In a similar way, ABB’s software activities can be considered an aspect of the company “that nobody knows”. The assumption that software is at best peripheral to ABB’s business could not be further from the mark. With around 3,000 software developers in 40 countries worldwide and impacting about one quarter of ABB’s revenue, there is no doubt that ABB is a major software company.

Title picture Software is one of the most overlooked ingredients of modern products and services, and one that the casual observer can easily fail to recognize. Similarly, it is not immediately obvious to what extent ABB has become a software company, and the role software now plays in its products and activities. The picture on this spread shows Dubai.

6 ABB review 3 |12 ABB’s software is everywhere 7 Through recent 1 Much of ABB’s software is included in products such as these. acquisitions, ABB has become more visible as a major vendor of “pure play” enterprise software The company is now one a) process instrument b) robot of the top three vendors globally in the area of enterprise asset management.

c) control system d) comfort panel for the home

n the past, ABB’s software activities tudes, are evolving and customers are have often been overlooked as most increasingly moving away from thinking of the company’s software was sold as of software as an “install once and for- I part of hardware products. These in- get” asset. They desire that their sys- cluded IEDs (intelligent electronic devic- tems evolve and benefit from ongoing es) for substation automation, process improvements. This is reflected in a shift instruments, robots, or even transform- from a “buy once” approach to a service- ers, or as part of a mixed hardware and oriented model, granting customers software system, such as the company’s access to the continuous stream of 800xA and Symphony+ automation and additional features, usability improve- process control systems ➔ 1, ➔ 2. ments, and adaptations being developed by ABB. However, following ABB’s recent acquisitions of the companies Ventyx and Min- Security com, ABB has become more visible as a While on the topic of software updates, major vendor of “pure play” enterprise one area that cannot be ignored is secu- software 1, for example in the area of en- rity and the associated issue, painful to terprise asset management, where ABB users and vendors alike, of security-relat- is now one of the top three vendors glob- ed updates. While one might naively ally 2. These acquisitions and the expan- expect that a well-written piece of soft- sion into the enterprise IT space that goes beyond ABB’s traditional CPM solutions 3 position ABB as a leader in Footnotes 1 Enterprise software is software for use in the trend towards what some consul- organizations such as businesses or govern- tants like to call convergence of OT ment. Possible features include online (operational technology, automation sys- purchasing, inventory management and tems) and IT (information technology, resource planning. 2 Source: ARC Advisory, EAM Solutions enterprise information systems). Worldwide Outlook 2011 3 CPM (collaborative production management) is With this expansion of the company’s a term used to collectively describe the tools portfolio comes a change in business and processes used to support collaboration between a company’s production activities and model. Many products, including soft- the areas with which it must closely interact ware, were traditionally sold “by the (such as purchasing, inventory management meter” and for a one time charge. Atti- and controlling structures).

8 ABB review 3 |12 2 ABB has strengthened its position in the 3 Comparison of code sizes of various embedded enterprise software sector software products.

DCS 1980s DCS 1990s DCS 2000s Remote service, diagnosis, upgrades, etc

Embedded System-level software Standalone and software enterprise software

Software integrated Software operating Software for higher in individual devices on a system level, level purposes such as such as: for example: resource planning, inventory management ~200-300 KLOC ~1'500-3'000 KLOC ~20'000 KLOC – Instruments – Automation and and purchasing. +OS, DB, Graphics +OS, DB, Graphics – Drives integration systems ABB‘s position in this Office Suite, other – IED (intelligent such as System 800xA sector has been components electronic devices) or Symphony Plus strengthened by the recent acquisition – Communication of Ventyx and For comparison facilitation such as Mincom IEC 61850 (for substation communication)

F22 Raptor Boeing 787 ABB 800xA 1'700 KLOC 6'500 KLOC 6'500 KLOC Software development processes including cybersecurity

ware is not vulnerable to any attack, with global reach and connected to cus- experience has shown that in the real tomer intranets and the Internet. Modern Modern communi- world it is not possible to write software communication protocols in power and that anticipates and prevents all kinds of industrial automation – earlier more con- cation protocols in future attacks. The key is to find the right cerned with electrically representing bits power and indus- balance between security requirements on a wire – have evolved to complex and what price users are willing to pay in software applications in their own right, trial automation terms of money and discomfort in opera- representing in their sophisticated function. That said, security is not a new trend tional and information models the full have evolved to that ABB is joining. For example, security complexity of the systems between complex software for automation systems has been a topic which they transfer data. ABB has been in ABB’s labs for more than a decade. The at the forefront of this development, hav- applications in their company has driven security-related ing been a key driver of both IEC 61850 development of standards, for example in in the power industry 4 and OPC-UA in own right. the standards commissions IEC and ISA, the process industry. and today ABB is home to one of the leading research groups in control system Software development security. Security teams from across the A modern process control or asset man- company are furthermore coordinated by agement system can easily extend to 10 the Group Head of Cyber Security, a new to 20 million lines of code. This is com- function created in 2011 to ensure that parable in magnitude to the code in a security of ABB products and systems is passenger airplane, a modern jet fighter, implemented at a consistent level across a computer operating system or a all parts of the company and in accor- car ➔ 3. The creation and maintenance of dance with customer needs and emer- software systems of such size requires gent regulatory requirements (ABB’s not only a highly qualified workforce of activities in cyber security are described software developers, who are at home more fully on pages 64–69 of this edition both in software and in the requirements of ABB Review). of the various application domains, but also professional tools and mature devel- Security concerns for automation systems have arisen mostly due to the fact Footnote that today’s control systems are increas- 4 For more information on IEC 61850, see ABB ingly also communication systems, often Review Special Report IEC 61850.

ABB’s software is everywhere 9 4 Automation pyramid 5 Automated unit testing tool chain

Write new code

Creative Pure software

+ Regenerate test suite Automating time Run tests consuming and error prone tasks lets Automated developers concentrate on tasks Automated requiring creativity Software with boxes

Fix defects Find defect causes

Software in boxes Creative Automated

opment processes. As ABB systems and While ABB is already collaborating with While ABB is solutions help customers to increase several universities on various software- productivity and improve the quality of related research projects, the company already collaborat- their production processes, ABB also is seeking to extend its reach and invite strives internally to adopt state-of-the- further research groups from all over the ing with a number art software development methods and world to participate. For this purpose of universities on tools and to improve the efficiency of the ABB Software Research Grant pro- its software development teams. One gram was initiated in 2011, in which ABB various software- example of the achievements of the ABB invites submissions of research propos- Software Development Improvement als for funding in a number of broadly related research Program (SDIP, see also pages 59–63) defined areas of interest. 5 projects, the com- is the recent transition of all software development units across the globe to The user interface pany is seeking to one common set of tools for require- Many of ABB’s customers are facing a ment, code, and test management. challenge. Experienced operators are extend its reach This was not a trivial change for a tradi- approaching retiring age, and fresh hires and invite further tionally decentralized organization such drawn from the generation of so-called as ABB, which is furthermore both grow- “digital natives”, ie people who have research groups ing organically and integrating newly grown up with computers and smart- acquired companies. This common tool- phones, are setting different usability from all over the set is also the basis for making available requirements for industrial products. world to partici- to all of the company the advanced soft- Whereas today’s user interfaces typically ware-engineering tools that are coming emulate the displays and dials of the pre- pate. out of ABB’s Corporate Research cen- computer age, today’s users increasingly ters – tools that are created in collabo expect a user experience on par with ration with leading academic software their latest home consumer communica- engineering researchers worldwide and tion and entertainment devices. At the that are automating those parts of soft- same time, the user interface must sup- ware development that do not require port the learning process for new opera- human creativity and ingenuity ➔ 4. tors through innovative tutorial and guid- ance functions, task oriented interaction Examples for such tools are: schemes and safety features that pre- – Static analysis for certain coding errors vent common errors and maloperations. (a kind of “spell checking” for code). ABB is meeting these challenges by inte- – Automated transformation of code grating user-centered design principles (a very sophisticated, context sensi- in its product development process, tive search and replace function that conducting studies with end users both can reduce person months of effort to hours). Footnote – Automated creation of regression 5 Detailed information about the company’s test suites ➔ 5. research and about the grant program can be – Automated impact analysis. found at www.abb.com/softwareresearch

10 ABB review 3 |12 6 The Neptuno irrigation solution is an example of ABB’s hosted automation system offerings.

at customer sites and in its state-of-the- irrigation of their fields using a web way, the release of the ABB Decathlon art usability and user experience lab browser on a mobile device ➔ 6. Hosted data center enterprise management facilities. The company is also collabo- solutions are also offered for enterprise (DCEM) solution in 2011 marks ABB’s rating with universities such as MIT and asset management, where ABB com- step from industrial automation to post- participating in the Center for Operator bines the management of data for all industrial automation 8. Performance 6, the leading forum for installed ABB devices, including their advancing the state-of-the-art in indus- updates and spare parts needs and ser- The software company trial and control system usability. vice requirements. Such solutions use everybody ought to know innovative diagnosis and service intelli- From being a company that traditionally Software in the cloud gence methods to permit a critical asset created software purely for the internal Another important aspect of ABB’s grow- condition to be recognized and treated needs of its own devices, ABB is rapidly ing software portfolio are the applica- before it fails, so preventing costly becoming a company at the forefront of tions that are no longer installed at cus- unplanned downtime. developing a far broader range of software tomer sites, but instead hosted and products and services, touching the needs operated by ABB on behalf of the cus- Data centers of everyday life and human activity in many tomer. This usage model, some years From social networks such as Facebook ways and enabling many types of activities ago called Application Service Provision- and Linkedin over search engines and from smart grids and smart management ing and more recently relaunched as media distributions sites to the growing of the information superhighway to greater “cloud computing” offers various advan- “software in cloud” market mentioned comfort in the home. tages: For some applications, customers earlier, the demand for data centers all only have to pay for those functions and over the world is soaring 7, and with it the instances that they actually use (known associated thirst for electrical power. as “pay per use” model), and do not ABB has long been a supplier of the need to worry about hardware or soft- equipment that powers the computers ware maintenance or updates as this is inside data centers. More recently, the all taken care of by ABB. Initially, such company recognized that managing not application hosting was used for busi- only the power supply, but the entire ness information systems such as payroll operation of hundreds of thousands of system, enterprise resource planning servers in a data center is a task for (ERP), customer relationship manage- which no good integrated solutions are ment (CRM), asset management etc., as offered by classical IT companies, but for well as for optimization and diagnosis which ABB’s products and experience Martin Naedele applications. However, ABB realizes that could be adapted. ABB has long sup- ABB Corporate Research in the classical automation space there plied the systems to manage and opti- Daettwil, Switzerland are also applications where customers mize operations in complex industrial [email protected] appreciate not having to deal with man- plants such as oil drilling platforms or aging a full control or SCADA system. An refineries, containing several hundred Footnotes example for ABB’s hosted automation thousands of sensor and actors. These 6 www.operatorperformance.org system offering is the Neptuno irrigation systems have also integrated different 7 http://investor.digitalrealty.com/file. aspx?IID=4094311&FID=12899535 solution, which is successfully deployed parts of the operation (power supplies 8 Recent developments in ABB’s offerings for in Spain serving more than 60’000 farm- and management, process data, diag- data centers are to be discussed in an ers who can fully monitor and control the nostics) into a single control system. In a upcoming issue of ABB Review.

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