Kepware+ delivers everything you need to standardize and manage industrial connectivity across your enterprise. The solution offers device connectivity, cloud and enterprise integrations, flexible deployment methods, and enterprise management. By implementing a robust enterprise connectivity strategy, Kepware+ can increase your scalability and time to value, enabling data-driven decisions, reducing cybersecurity risks, and improving operations at scale.
Kepware+ provides access to the latest upgrades, ongoing maintenance for supported versions, and security updates through your support contract. It is suitable for industries such as industrials, mining, electronics, chemicals, food and beverage, and is targeted towards decision-makers in IT and operations.
The Kepware+ Story
Challenges for manufacturers: Manufacturers are challenged by heterogeneous legacy assets and machines from multiple vendors, with variations across lines, sites, and the enterprise. The heterogeneity makes securely accessing data at scale extremely complex.
How connectivity helps: Standardizing industrial connectivity is a key initiative to tackle the OT (Operational Technology) data access challenge. Standardizing simplifies data access, reduces cybersecurity risks, and improves data quality at scale.
No connectivity, no transformation: Without industrial connectivity, digital transformation is slow and difficult to scale. Achieving value from advanced digital solutions for critical manufacturing use cases – including OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), predictive maintenance, and asset performance is impossible without access to the underlying machine data.
How Kepware+ enables connectivity: Kepware+ standardizes the seamless, secure movement of OT data between industrial devices and OT and IT systems. Kepware+ includes key capabilities, including device connectivity, cloud and enterprise integrations, flexible deployment methods, and enterprise management.
The Kepware+ impact: A successfully implemented industrial connectivity strategy accelerates digital transformation initiatives, reduces cybersecurity risks, and improves operations at scale.
Kepware+ differentiation: Kepware+ is a proven solution backed by more than 25 years of deep domain experience and a dedicated focus on industrial connectivity. Kepware+ offers the greatest breadth of device connectivity, enabling data access from virtually any asset on the shop floor. Kepware+ is IT and OT system agnostic, meaning we are committed to ensuring interoperability between any IT and/or OT systems.
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Use this guide as you plan and implement your Kepware+ solution for your organization. Follow step-by-step instructions and find resources to assist.
There are multiple sections within this path. Click on the link below that best describes your current situation.
I am considering purchasing Kepware+
I am an existing Kepware customer looking to adopt Kepware+ within my enterprise
The information is helpful for:
A Success Path is an online guide to help you implement a specific PTC product at your organization. Each path provides step-by-step instructions from the early planning stages all the way through to deployment. Use a Success Path to help your organization get the most out of a product and achieve your business goals.
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Kepware+ delivers everything you need to standardize and manage industrial connectivity across your enterprise. The solution offers device connectivity, cloud and enterprise integrations, flexible deployment methods, and enterprise management. By implementing a robust enterprise connectivity strategy, Kepware+ can increase your scalability and time to value, enabling data-driven decisions, reducing cybersecurity risks, and improving operations at scale.
Kepware+ provides access to the latest upgrades, ongoing maintenance for supported versions, and security updates through your support contract. It is suitable for industries such as industrials, mining, electronics, chemicals, food and beverage, and is targeted towards decision-makers in IT and operations.
The Kepware+ Story
Challenges for manufacturers: Manufacturers are challenged by heterogeneous legacy assets and machines from multiple vendors, with variations across lines, sites, and the enterprise. The heterogeneity makes securely accessing data at scale extremely complex.
How connectivity helps: Standardizing industrial connectivity is a key initiative to tackle the OT (Operational Technology) data access challenge. Standardizing simplifies data access, reduces cybersecurity risks, and improves data quality at scale.
No connectivity, no transformation: Without industrial connectivity, digital transformation is slow and difficult to scale. Achieving value from advanced digital solutions for critical manufacturing use cases – including OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness), predictive maintenance, and asset performance is impossible without access to the underlying machine data.
How Kepware+ enables connectivity: Kepware+ standardizes the seamless, secure movement of OT data between industrial devices and OT and IT systems. Kepware+ includes key capabilities, including device connectivity, cloud and enterprise integrations, flexible deployment methods, and enterprise management.
The Kepware+ impact: A successfully implemented industrial connectivity strategy accelerates digital transformation initiatives, reduces cybersecurity risks, and improves operations at scale.
Kepware+ differentiation: Kepware+ is a proven solution backed by more than 25 years of deep domain experience and a dedicated focus on industrial connectivity. Kepware+ offers the greatest breadth of device connectivity, enabling data access from virtually any asset on the shop floor. Kepware+ is IT and OT system agnostic, meaning we are committed to ensuring interoperability between any IT and/or OT systems.
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Different organizations and use cases will have varying objectives, yet there are standard value drivers from which all customers can gain. Kepware+ is instrumental in helping reach these targets.
Enhanced transparency: Kepware+ provides a unified view for managing all Kepware server deployments, allowing configuration and visibility to installations company-wide from a centralized point.
Reduced operational time: Accelerate configuration and scaling replication across large footprints. Streamline management complexity to improve the quality of data-informed decisions.
Efficiency in workflow: On-site access requirements or the need for specific expertise can become expensive. Leveraging Hybrid SaaS functionalities for essential tasks can conserve working hours and facilitate optimization efforts from any location.
Robust security: Modernize, standardize, and secure the movement of data from operations to the broader enterprise.
Measurable metrics are used as a cross-check to ensure the customer achieves value from the software.
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For new customers looking to purchase and deploy Kepware+:
To implement Kepware+, you will need a variety of contributors, and the size and composition of your team will depend on the scope and complexity of your use case. Having team members with experience implementing Kepware is a significant advantage, as existing expertise can play an important role alongside any organizational changes or software management standards that may impact process changes. Some typical roles and skills are essential for any Kepware+ implementation. These include:
For existing Kepware customers looking to adopt Kepware+ within their enterprise:
All individuals impacted by the Kepware+ upgrade and process authorities should participate in the initiative, including critical users and those heavily reliant on the solution post-upgrade, to provide input on operation alignment with Kepware+ usage. Early engagement with all participants is crucial to clarify duties and scope.
Find out if your organization employs people with the above skill sets to upgrade your existing Kepware server to the enterprise environment. If so, ask the employees if they can contribute to the upgrade initiative. If you need to get their manager's approval, make sure to do so. While you can do most of the work remotely, team members must be on-site to gather requirements for going live and promoting the upgrade to the production environment.
Typically, organizations hire contractors or consultants to bridge skill gaps and achieve their overall goals. Employ outside resources if internal employees with the required skill sets are non-existent or unavailable. Verify that the individuals you hire have the Kepware experience to meet your goals.
External resources are extremely valuable for ensuring uniform and consistent integration with other systems.
PTC, experienced partners, or systems integrators can often fill skill sets and expertise gaps and provide valuable recommendations for preferred topologies and other best practices. Depending on the initiative, these providers can be a PTC partner or PTC itself. PTC has a partner search tool available so that customers can filter by geographical region, product, and type. You may have an existing partner relationship; however, ensuring they meet the solution needs and are the type of partner your business requires is essential. If there are any questions or concerns about this process or who would be the right fit, contact PTC for help.
PTC’s Customer Success teams can help you plan, implement, and measure your Kepware+ initiative. A PTC Customer Success Manager ensures you have the right mix of resources on your team. In addition, they will help ensure each contributor has extensive experience with the Kepware platform and is well-suited for the role.
Create a core team of internal users to learn and train others about how Kepware+ functions. They will serve as a resource for end users for training and adoption. Consider the following:
Depending on its size, consult a partner or work with your PTC Account Manager to create those references.
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Start by documenting your current architecture. Think about how different parts of your organization flow together. Next, document the architecture that supports your organization’s manufacturing operations, including hardware, software, and network materials. With the assistance of a controls engineer and manufacturing IT, gather at a minimum the following information:
Understanding and ensuring that basic system requirements for Kepware+ are met as early as possible is vital to preventing fundamental technical or system issues as the project progresses. System requirements to plan for include:
PTC’s Customer Success teams conduct a planning workshop with the customer to discuss the strategy, configuration best practices, optimization guidance, and deployment plan. The following will be addressed in the meeting:
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As you strive to enhance your internal training and adoption processes, it is crucial to identify and address the specific needs of various stakeholders. By understanding and documenting the requirements of both administrators and end-users, we can ensure a smooth transition and effective knowledge transfer. Here are some key areas to focus on:
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It is essential that key team stakeholders meet for a formal kickoff meeting at the beginning of the initiative to collect requirements. The meeting is centered on business processes and technical aspects of the implementation. This can be done in person, remotely, or in combination. Discussing the project plan and other information as one unified group will help everyone move forward fully informed and prepared to commence the work on the project.
The team assembled during the Assemble a Team objective should receive timely notifications to confirm their availability for the meeting. A formal architecture plan with reference diagrams will also be helpful and should be a deliverable of the Plan Your Implementation objective if one does not already exist.
The schedule for implementing a Kepware+ solution can vary from several months to more than a year, depending on the customer’s use case, enterprise environment, timeline, and available resources. Discuss the steps and milestones developed during the previously held planning workshop.
Typically, organizations hire contractors, integrators, or consultants to bridge skills gaps and achieve their use cases. If internal employees are non-existent or unavailable, employ outside resources. Verify that the individuals you hire have the Kepware experience to meet your project goals.
PTC’s Customer Success Management teams can help you plan, implement, and measure your Kepware+ initiative. Your PTC Customer Success Manager ensures you have the right mix of resources on your team. In addition, they will help make sure each contributor has extensive experience with the Kepware platform and is well-suited for the role.
Visit Assemble a Team for more information.
A communication plan for a software implementation is a document that describes how, when, and to whom the implementation information will be communicated. It covers the following aspects:
Customers should set up a PTC Support Account to access PTC’s technical support and a MyKepware account to access key downloads and licensing activation resources. The process to access support varies depending on whether you are a new or existing Kepware customer.
If you are new to Kepware, navigate to the MyKepware portal and click Sign up to create your account. Existing Kepware customers can log in using their current credentials. One of the possible experiences below may occur:
Future logins to either PTC eSupport or MyKepware will share the same credentials.
After purchase, the following numbers will be emailed to you as part of the PTC Fulfillment Letter. These numbers will not be required to sign up on MyKepware.com. However, you should keep this information available for future support requests:
Contact PTC technical support or your sales representative if this information cannot be found.
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The following key steps are required to effectively set up and tailor Kepware+. The Kepware+ Installation Guide provides detailed instructions, including system requirements for each phase.
Additionally, reference the configuration plan established in Plan Your Implementation and work with PTC's Customer Success teams as needed to implement best practices and optimizations.
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Acquaint yourself with ThingWorx Kepware Server, a connectivity tool for linking varied automation equipment and sensors to digital platforms. Learn its role in facilitating your communication streams, navigate its user interface, and understand how it interfaces with applications. Review the security measures of these connections. Figure out device configuration and establish appropriate scan rates to optimize communication. Utilize Communication Diagnostics to troubleshoot channel and device issues as they arise. Lastly, execute the Application Report Tool to compile installation and licensing details your technical support team needs.
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There is not a catch-all, complete checklist that applies to every situation. However, an internal one should be developed as part of the roll-out that accounts for your business specificities and key milestones. What to check will vary, but the questions below are an example of what could be asked:
Communicate with affected administrators and end-users about when the solution will become available and how to find training and support. Follow the Communication Plan previously developed in Kickoff Your Implementation.
End-users should discuss workload concerns with their managers if the implementation affects other deadlines. Communicate any downtime to stakeholders and distribute updated documentation on accessing training material and reporting problems. To reduce the impact, implementation often occurs near or over the weekend.
Ensure end-users know the following:
Distribute documentation to end-users and technical support. If your organization has a central hub for training resources, upload the documentation there or share links to useful standard Kepware documentation.
This documentation is critical for supporting Kepware+ on an ongoing basis. It will explain how previous tailoring or customizations worked and how end users can achieve the same result(s) with out-of-the-box functionality.
Additional documentation could include proprietary information on site-specific configurations and settings or explanations for following or omitting certain best practices, depending on the customer's discretion.
Servers that have already been installed, upgraded, or migrated according to the implementation plan should now be moved to production. This may mean targeting the servers with production applications like Manufacturing Execution Systems and Plant Historians or turning on internal data publishing utilities such as database or web output.
Work with stakeholders to ensure that network connections are successful and data flows appropriately, according to the steps taken in the earlier Access, Install, and Configure Software objective.
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Access to support during and after implementation is crucial for a smooth user introduction to the solution. Quickly addressing and resolving issues can help avoid downtime.
While anyone can request support, having one or two initial internal contacts for triaging queries is advisable if broader visibility is necessary across your organization. To get support for PTC Kepware products, create a case in the MyKepware portal. For setup instructions, refer to Setup Your Support Account. If front-line Kepware staff cannot resolve an issue, you can seek help through the PTC Knowledge Base, PTC Community, My PTC Support, and PTC Technical Support. For urgent assistance with specific problems, call the PTC Customer Care Center with your case number. You will need to scroll to the “Contact” section on this page to see the phone number for PTC Customer Care for your region. Technical Support can assist with the following issues:
Kepware+ site administrators can open support cases directly with PTC eSupport. When opening a case, include:
Search the PTC Knowledge Base for information about PTC products and solutions. Knowledge Base results will be displayed in the Case Logger based on keywords entered during the case creation process. If the displayed results do not resolve your issue, you can continue with the case creation process.
The Knowledge Base includes:
On the PTC Community site, you can access information on using Kepware+, follow discussions initiated by other customers, or start your own topic. A community expert will respond and assist you.
While anyone can browse the community, creating a basic PTC account is necessary to post topics or reply to others. To do this, choose the "Basic" tab on the "Create New PTC eSupport Account" page. Please note that this account is separate from your Kepware account. Refer to Setup Your Support Account for additional instructions.
Your application support team must be readily available to resolve issues during and immediately after deployment. They should also know how to reach Technical Support if necessary. Ideally, the architect(s) and developer(s) who built the solution can help if needed.
If your application runs 24 hours per day, seven days per week, one to two employees should be reachable outside of regular business hours in case of emergencies. However, thorough testing before deployment significantly reduces the likelihood of emergencies, instilling confidence and preparedness in the team.
The Hypercare period, typically lasting 7-14 days, is a time of focused commitment. It ends when the application functions as expected, and developers may address ongoing bugs or minor fixes later. This period is crucial for ensuring the application's smooth operation.
Post-implementation, the team that set up Kepware+ will hand over the live solution to your designated support organization. This team must be trained and ready to assist Kepware users with any issues. After the transfer, avoid modifying the production application directly. Instead, make changes to the development server, test them, and once approved, publish them to production. Update the documentation with these changes accordingly.
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