Uptake acquires ShookIOT to boost Industrial Asset Intelligence

  • February 17, 2021
  • William Payne

Industrial asset intelligence specialist Uptake has acquired ShookIOT to strengthen its position in industrial asset management. The acquisition is particularly aimed at customers in the chemical, oil and gas, and process industries.

The combined offering from the two companies will bridge the data gap between OT and IT, and simplify data migration to Uptake’s industrial AI applications. New capabilities include obtaining clean time-series data from individual assets for use in cloud based analytics and augmented decision-making.

ShookIOT was founded by Leanna Chan and Dr. Dave Shook, two former Matrikon (now a part of Honeywell Advanced Solutions) executives who led the development of data ingestion software for asset-intensive industries. Responding to the opportunity of the cloud for industrial connectivity, ShookIOT specialises in data collection for enterprise-wide digital workstreams, providing data management and industrial intelligence software to global process companies.

Uptake and ShookIOT products are available via direct deployment or through the Microsoft Azure marketplace and provide company-wide visibility into performance at the component, asset, process, plant, and enterprise levels. Once in the cloud, data is prepared for operational applications, including Uptake’s Industrial AI, to assure production levels and quality, prevent unplanned downtime, and mitigate operational risk.

“For AI to make good on its promise to the industrial world, operators must be able to unlock data from disparate sources to support frontline decision-making with simple, actionable, and secure software,” said Kayne Grau, President of Uptake. “Integrating ShookIOT software within Uptake’s applications optimises the preparation of industrial data for precision analytics. By combining forces, we advance our leading position in this vital SaaS category, enhancing the speed with which we deliver greater reliability, safety, and productivity to industrial operators.”

“Data portability and integrity are the foundation of Industry 4.0, yet many companies — solution providers and operators alike — have struggled to unlock the power of their data, limiting the future value of industrial intelligence through restrictive pre-modeling, drawn-out implementation, and poor cybersecurity,” said Dr. Dave Shook, Co-founder & CEO at ShookIOT, who is taking on the role of Chief Data Officer at Uptake. “We are excited to join Uptake and expand our impact in empowering data integrity and adoption of Industrial AI for asset-intensive companies around the globe.”

“Time-series data is a crucial element for realising the benefits that AI and other digitally-driven innovation provide,” noted Michael Gullifoyle, Vice President, ARC Advisory Group. “Yet, asset-intensive companies struggle to access, secure, move, and manage this data in a cloud environment, and this inability severely limits their capacity for innovation. Industrial companies that can target and overcome these specific gaps, such as data portability, and the solution providers that can help them do so, demonstrate how digital transformation will move from vision to reality. ShookIOT customers Chevron, Enerplus Corp., and Ensign Drilling are examples of that possibility.”

The acquisition of ShookIOT follows Uptake’s partnership agreement with RCI to strengthen reliability-centered maintenance for asset-intensive industries.