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IBM > Case Studies > Hildebrand: Harnessing data captured from the Internet of Things to deliver revolutionary new services
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Hildebrand: Harnessing data captured from the Internet of Things to deliver revolutionary new services

Technology Category
  • Analytics & Modeling - Big Data Analytics
  • Analytics & Modeling - Real Time Analytics
  • Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Data Exchange & Integration
Applicable Industries
  • Retail
  • Transportation
Applicable Functions
  • Logistics & Transportation
  • Quality Assurance
Use Cases
  • Predictive Maintenance
  • Real-Time Location System (RTLS)
  • Supply Chain Visibility
Services
  • Data Science Services
  • System Integration
The Challenge
The advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) has led to an explosion of data from various sources. This data, if processed and understood correctly, can unlock new insights, exceed customer expectations, and provide a competitive edge. However, traditional databases struggle to handle high-velocity time-series data efficiently. Businesses that create, distribute, transport, re-sell or service physical products can benefit from sensor-sourced data that follows the movement of goods through the entire value chain, from manufacture to usage. For service industries, the opportunity is to blend environmental data with customer data to create innovative offerings. The challenge lies in gathering and processing these huge volumes of time-series data.
About The Customer
Hildebrand is a London-based company that creates and operates complex products to make it easy for solution providers to deploy and scale their applications with high-performance database and machine learning technology. The company’s flagship offering is its “Smart” platform, which captures, collates, and unlocks the potential of big data to provide business-changing insight across multiple industries and in everyday life. The company is involved in various sectors, including retail, transportation, and energy, and works with global government organizations to study real-world data on consumer use of electricity.
The Solution
Hildebrand deployed the IBM Informix database, designed to deliver extremely high levels of performance and availability. Unlike traditional databases that record each new 'pulse' of data as a new entry, Informix manages all time-stamped data for each 'pulse' in a single row, in chronological order. This makes it much faster and easier to load, store, extract, and analyze the data. Hildebrand offers its Smart analytics platform, powered by Informix, as a service to clients, making it simple for companies to tap into sensor-based data and applications. The platform is used in various applications, including retail 'footfall' tracking, designing better transport systems, and studying energy usage patterns.
Operational Impact
  • The Hildebrand Smart platform is currently collecting 250 million data points a day across 25 UK shopping malls, delivering unprecedented insight to the mall operators.
  • The platform is being used in an ongoing two-year project for a major national energy supplier, capturing 7,500 meter readings per second.
  • Hildebrand's UK consumer retail site, Energyhive.com, captures around 1,500 readings per second and has stored more than two billion readings to date.
Quantitative Benefit
  • The Hildebrand Smart platform has been stress-tested to handle 300,000 data points per second.
  • The platform is currently collecting 250 million data points a day across 25 UK shopping malls.

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