Bosch Energy and Building Solutions relies on monitoring with Paessler PRTG
About Bosch Energy and Building Solutions in Germany
As an experienced and reliable partner, Bosch Energy and Building Solutions implements connected and integrated solutions that make commercial buildings and infrastructures safe, comfortable, efficient and sustainable. More than 3,800 employees support you as consultants, installers and service providers with tailor-made safety and security systems, building automation solutions, individual energy services and services for digital building management. With more than 75 locations throughout Germany, we are always close to you. Our expert teams advise, plan and implement the best solutions based on the latest technologies. Our service team ensures smooth operation, either in person or remotely.
For more information, visit boschbuildingsolutions.com
The challenge
Commercial buildings must remain secure. The strictest security measures are not only required for the people who work there, but also for the material assets contained within. Bosch Energy and Building Solutions offers its more than 100,000 customers worldwide an all-around service offer to increase building security. Based on the Bosch BMS — a building management system for monitoring and controlling building technology and infrastructures — this offer extends from the design phase to implementation and the operation of networked and integrated Bosch solutions.
In addition to building technology, today’s IT is also playing an increasingly important role in building management. Networking, systems control, notification & escalation procedures, data storage, processing, and transmission — nothing works without a reliable IT infrastructure. However, since traditional BMS and SCADA systems are designed and optimized for OT environments, IT components can only be monitored (at best) in a rudimentary manner. Companies therefore need an additional monitoring solution for their IT environment, one that can monitor their building technology and IT infrastructure and ensure that all functions are operational continuously.
Marco Brylla, an IT security specialist at Bosch Energy and Building Solutions, uses PRTG Network Monitor from Paessler to monitor classic IT components such as HPE and Dell servers, as well as various switches. In particular, Brylla is impressed by the software’s ease of use: “PRTG immediately won us over with its clear and intuitive dashboards, which make it extremely easy to display complex structures – even for multiple customers or buildings.” Thanks to this usability, the company now uses PRTG for more than just IT, including building technology components such as fire alarm and video systems. Since PRTG supports various industry methods and protocols, such use cases can be implemented easily.
“PRTG immediately won us over with its clear and intuitive dashboards, which make it extremely easy to display complex structures – even for multiple customers or buildings.”
Marco Brylla, IT security specialist at Bosch Energy and Building Solutions
Paessler PRTG OPC UA Server bridges IT and OT
Combining the Bosch BMS with a separate IT monitoring solution would create unnecessary complexity and provide many customers with additional (and needless) everyday tasks. Nevertheless, all data from both building technology and IT components must be put into the proper context, and technicians must be promptly informed of any potential disruptions. Although this would be possible with PRTG from Paessler – the software supports protocols and methods such as OPC UA, Modbus, and MQTT, and can query information directly from many OT components and systems — in this case Bosch Energy and Building Solutions decided to develop a highly specialized solution specifically for its building management system, one that takes into account the needs of its customers. The question was how to get the IT information from PRTG to the Bosch system.
This is where PRTG OPC UA Server from Paessler comes in: as an extension to PRTG, PRTG OPC UA Server can receive notifications and information from PRTG, transfer this data in formats supported by OPC UA, and forward it to OPC UA-compatible systems such as the Bosch building management system. The notifications can be assigned automatically, using tags. The technicians in the customer’s control room therefore get an overview of all the building technology and IT, in a single (and familiar) system.
Marco Brylla explains: “PRTG and PRTG OPC UA Server transmit all the relevant data on the status of our customers’ IT to our building management system, where it is put into context with the respective building information. Our customers therefore get all important information in a straightforward and recognizable manner, allowing them to create precise error analyses and plan with certainty.”
Conclusion
Thanks to the successful implementation of PRTG with PRTG OPC UA Server and the Bosch BMS, Brylla envisions more developments in the future: “We use PLC controllers with OPC UA clients as interfaces for data exchange between separate networks. Thorough protection is a must here. With PRTG and PRTG OPC UA Server, we can easily (and comprehensively) integrate the entire scenario into our centralized monitoring environment.”
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