Harman’s Ignite Platform Helps ‘Connected Car’ Solution Providers Develop, Run, Manage In-Vehicle Apps & Analytics

Talk of the ‘connected car’ is picking up speed in 2017.  Harman Connected Services aims to tackle this IoT use case with its Harman Ignite Platform. The cloud-based solution will let providers design, run and manage a new range of ‘connected car’ apps.  

by Yves de Montcheuil (@ydemontcheuil)

Tags: analytics, apps, connected car, cloud, develop, Harman, Ignite, IoT, mobile, manage, platform,

As 2017 kicks off, there is probably no more talked-about use case for Internet of Things than the connected car.  For automobile manufacturers, delivering seamless management of connectivity, analytics, apps and devices can present a challenge – especially given the diversity of systems in play.

 

Harman Connected Services is looking to tackle this IoT use case with its just-released Harman Ignite Platform. The cloud-based solution looks to provide the auto industry a range of ‘connected car’ services across the full ‘solutions lifecycle’ – all the way from design, run, and manage.  

Architecturally, Harman’s Ignite Platform is designed to provide connectivity, device management, application enablement, analytics, as well as customizable managed services, according to company execs.

 

Sanjay Dhawan, president of Harman Connected Services, said the Harman  Ignite Platform was designed to bring many of the components together in one offering to let  auto industry firms deliver a  ‘connected lifestyle’ experience – while maximizing efficiencies and minimizing complexity and costs.

 

Harman is offering “a whole new level of customized and personalized services benefitting OEMs, consumers and enterprises in the growing car share industry in an unprecedented way,” he said in a statement.  Further, Harman Ignite targets “existing and future demands for scalability, security and flexibility in the provisioning of connected car and IoT services and applications,” he added.

Architecturally, Harman Ignite is both scalable and modular, enabling OEMs to initially purchase a base set of functionality. Users can then build on that core base with additional services and capacity as needed.  

 

Harman Ignite offers these ‘core’ capabilities:

  • Connectivity: Facilitate the delivery of data communication services on mobile and other communications networks
  • Analytics: Pre-built analytics models built to leverage real-time machine data to address common industry-wide scenarios (warranty analytics, fault detection, etc.)
  • Device Management: Enable remote management and over-the-air updating of devices
  • Application Management: Provide reusable components, prebuilt accelerators to deliver on common scenarios to  accelerate and simplify the development of solutions
  • Overall Managed Services: Provide a range of professional services to support app delivery, analytics, over-the-air app and data updates, device management and more

 

Vildan Hasanbegovic, head of marketing for Harman International, commented on ‘connected car’ trends in a post on the company’s blog:

Today’s connected lifestyle is driving consumer demand for in-vehicle infotainment and services where drivers and passengers expect a uniquely personalized and tailored experience. With an always-on connection, consumer expectations have drastically changed when it comes to their vehicle - from shopping and ownership experiences to the car as an extension to their digitally-connected lifestyle.

As automakers define their strategies in this world of ubiquitous connectivity, organizations need to focus on the customer experience and their own value network to succeed. Operating a connected business network that integrates the car lifecycle into the global value chain is critical to deploying the next generation of driver and passenger experiences.

Harman execs cited several early use cases where the Harman Ignite Platform could be well leveraged.  

Vehicle Connect: Allows a vehicle to communicate through the cloud to other platforms such as smart homes, smart infrastructures, and vehicle-to-vehicle – which helps simplify, streamline and enhance user experiences.

 

Cloud-Based Driver Profiles: Leverages the cloud to set preferences for content in any vehicle the consumer accesses. This solution leverages predictive learning in the vehicle to adjust preferences, provides access to third party services regardless of vehicle and accommodates cloud portability of preferences and identity.

 

Car-as-a-Service: Delivers a cloud service enabling Car Sharing, Ride Sharing and Fleet Management models.

 

Vehicle Health and Diagnostics: Offers insights into vehicle health to help build relationships with car owners and improves car performance while increasing dealer service revenue.

 

Content Personalization: Delivers personal content intelligently for a driver’s commute.

 

Vehicle Analytics: Provides insight into vehicle usage/quality issues for an individual or group of users.

One leading automaker, Subaru of America, is already adopting Harman Ignite to introduce and deploy new cloud applications and services to its customers. “Given Harman’s history in on-vehicle and cloud technologies, we’re excited to leverage this platform’s capabilities,” said Anthony Landamia, Subaru’s infotainment product manager.

 

While Harman Ignite today largely applies to connected services in the automotive industry, Dhawan added the platform could also support other IoT realms, including smart cities and connected enterprises.




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