Edge Software Provider CloudRail Acquired by Belden

Belden, a $2.6 billion provider of mission-critical network infrastructure for both industrial and enterprise markets, has acquired edge software provider CloudRail GmbH. CloudRail is a fully managed solution used to acquire data from industrial environments, preprocess it locally, and send it to any cloud. 

CloudRail includes a database of over 12.000 sensor definitions.  Automated data normalization and device provisioning reduce setup time when connecting a machine to the cloud.  The cloud-based device management solution allows enterprise customers to securely roll-out, manage, and update thousands of globally distributed edge devices. The CloudRail solution uses industry standards like OPC-UA to connect modern equipment, while brownfield installations with legacy assets are retrofitted with secondary sensors.

The combination of CloudRail’s strengths in transmitting data into the cloud with Belden’s leadership position in the global ruggedized industrial networking market and additional industrial Edge capabilities is designed to provide complete networking infrastructure from the sensor up to the cloud and meet today’s requirements for network automation and digitalization.

Going forward, CloudRail will become part of Belden’s Industrial Automation Solutions (IAS) Business, a global organization that includes the networking and connectivity brands Belden, Hirschmann, ProSoft, OTN Systems, Lumberg Automation and more. The addition of CloudRail to IAS is intended to substantially improve the companies’ joint competitive positions and provide a complement to the new Belden HORIZON Data Operations Platform.