What is web-based embedded remote management and how can it help my business?

M2M remote device management is rapidly becoming the next evolutionary step for networking and the Internet. Recent studies show that there are at least four times as many machines in the world as there are people. That's a significant number of machines that will require some sort of service or ongoing monitoring. By network-enabling these otherwise disparate products, manufacturing companies, service organizations, and consumers immediately benefit by gaining access to critical information about the operational status, maintenance requirements and potential security issues of these remote assets. ESF™(Embedded Software Framework) Remote Management enables service personnel to remotely diagnose, repair, and control devices as well as manage software, and monitor usage, eliminating unnecessary service calls, minimize downtime and even creating new sources of revenue through up-sale marketing opportunities or add-on service contracts.

Advantages of web-based embedded remote management.

• No additional client software is needed. This substantially decreases (or completely eliminates) the costs of technical support for monitoring PC.
• Reduced maintenance costs and down time by having real-time event notification. Insight into real-time asset health enables condition-based reliability programs. Shift unplanned maintenance to planned, making minor repairs before faults progress to system failure.
  
• Web browsers are ubiquitous: A device with an embedded web interface is accessible (only to authorized users) almost anywhere in the world: in the office, at home, in airports, internet cafes, etc.
  
• A web browser is a virtual platform. The management software does not need to be ported to multiple desktop operating systems (variants of Windows, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS, etc.); Web browsers run on all major computing platforms, including PDAs and cell phones. The web-based management system is insulated from changes in the underlying OS; browser manufacturers assume the responsibility for updating their software when operating systems are upgraded.
  
• Standard web formats are easily customizable, allowing you to modify the appearance of a web interface in the field. You can change branding elements such as colors and graphics, change the layout of controls on the pages, and even remove and add pages.
  
• Web browsers are localized to all major international markets. Web interfaces can support multiple languages (including multibyte character set languages like Chinese and Japanese) allowing the end user to select the language at run-time.

According to Gartner Dataquest from a study released in January 2003, “reducing the number of service events that need to be responded to with an on-site technician, effective remote service solutions enable support providers to manage a larger, distributed customer base with fewer resources."The Association for Services Management International (AFSMI) interviewed the service organizations of 250 companies and revealed that those companies utilizing service optimization technologies experienced a 23% improvement in performance.

Industry / application examples
Medical Equipment	Patient Monitoring Diagnostic equipment Infusion Pumps Laser Systems
Consumer device	Set Top Boxes MP3 Players Sound Systems
Sensor Networks	Inertial Sensors -Aviation -Land Based -Marine Mote Management Instrumentation Sensors
Network Infrastructure	Routers Servers Switches VoIP
Building Automation	HVAC Lighting Video Monitoring
Factory Automation/Industrial Control	Industrial Process Control Instrumentation Machine Control Pipeline Monitoring
Transportation	Fleet Monitoring Traffic Control Video Monitoring
Retail	Point Of Sale Equipment Vending Machines Electronic Signage Refrigeration ATM Commercial