MindSphere from Siemens offers a cost-effective, scalable cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS) that’s perfect for developing apps. Designed as an open OS for the Internet of Things, it lets you seamlessly connect with your machines like never before so you can improve the efficiency of plants by harnessing the huge volumes of data that your assets generate. MindSphere offers seamless connectivity between data-based based services from Siemens and third party providers. And it lets you seamlessly integrate your own apps and services.Siemens' services include data recording, transmission and safe storage, and offer the framework for a development environment in which applications can be created swiftly.Optimizing plant and machinery, and energy and resource consumption- Open standard (OPC) for connectivity of Siemens and third-party products- Plug-and-play access for Siemens products (configuration in the TIA Portal)- Optional cloud infrastructure – public or private cloud or location-specific solution- MindSphere - Siemens Cloud for industry with open application interfaces for individual customer applications- Transparent pay-per-use pricing model- Opportunities for entirely new business models (such as offering machine-hours for sale)Open EcosystemMindSphere has been designed as an open ecosystem, which industrial companies can use as the basis for their own digital services, in fields such as preventive maintenance, energy data management or resource optimization. MindSphere’s open infrastructure is based on SAP HANA and open OPC UA (Unified Architecture) web services for commutations. The SAP HANA Cloud Platform is an open platform-as-a-service that provides in-memory database and application services for high performance. OPC UA is a platform-independent, service-oriented architecture that integrates all the functionality of the individual OPC Classic specifications into one extensible framework. The advantages of open interfaces, such as OPC UA, is that it enables products, like MindSphere, to be used with automation and control systems from any manufacturer. MindConnectWith MindConnect, Siemens offers numerous possibilities for connecting machines, plants and worldwide fleets to MindSphere, regardless of the manufacturer. MindConnect Nano for instance is a Plug&Play solution that enables you to read out data from your industrial asset and pre-process it for transfer to MindSphere - simply and reliably. The encrypted data is then transferred securely to MindSphere, where it is then available for your analysis.MindConnect Nano is a preconfigured, industrial blind node PC brick, which enables connectivity to the MindSphere cloud. This device transmits data, encrypted through a secure internet connection, to MindSphere allowing the creation of cloud-based applications and services. Data defined by the user, connected using the Mind Connect Nano, is then transmitted to MindSphere at fixed time intervals. The MindConnect Nano supports standards such as OPC UA and Siemens’ S7 protocol. In the future, this function will be integrated into all communication-capable products in the Siemens portfolio. MindAppsThe Siemens MindApps Fleet Manager and Visual Analyzer are already available on MindSphere. These apps help users to connect their machines, plants and other industrial assests to MindSphere, to configure them, to read out and to visualize the relevant data for analysis. Further applications are already in the pipeline and will be made available to users on an ongoing basis. MindSphere also offers the option of developing dedicated applications and using them on MindSphere as well as offering them to other users.