Cloudy with a chance of octopuses: is your business ready?

As fans of Sharknado I, II and III might say, “Imagine the crazy-scariest thing you can conjure up and triple it. Then again!” That’s how the schlock-horror movie franchise got to three full-length features—with a fourth screening soon!
Sure, tornadoes of sharks are supreme Hollywood fantasy, but in the real world of work, clouds might also gather to rain down the gnarly and unexpected.. Whether it's a tsunami of disruption or metaphorical storms of octopuses thundering down, here’s the key question: Is your business prepared?

GE’s Octopus video took inspiration from Sharknado to create a beyond-worst-case scenario for critical infrastructure. The implied and true message is that essential industries and assets must be ready for anything, whether it’s a blackout caused by a falling tree, a locomotive striking a mob of kangaroos … or jet-engine-jamming cephalopods falling from the sky.

 

We're living in an uncertain world, and GE is harnessing technology to safeguard against unpredictable threats.

Across its vast industrial asset base, GE uses digital technology and advanced analytics to anticipate possible scenarios—and even some impossible ones—in order to keep power flowing, trains running, planes flying and hospitals safely and efficiently operating.

By embedding sensors that capture machine data and then crunch that real-time information using powerful analytics, GE is keeping assets online, preventing dangerous outages and eliminating unexpected downtime.

Using Predix, the cloud-based platform that helps power the Industrial Internet, GE builds Digital Twins of machine infrastructure; running in parallel, they indicate when their physical counterparts are operating outside normal conditions well before problems become detectable to operators. Predix can then recommend a way to fix equipment before it breaks or requires costly maintenance.

So send in the clouds. Whether the problem is a stressed turbine blade, smashed circuitry or eight sucker-studded arms stuck in a compressor, GE’s aim is to be ready for anything. Even a cyclone of would-be calamari.