Quickie: GE considers sale of digital assets, maybe including Predix

Several news outlets this morning say that GE is exploring the sale of some or all of its digital assets — which could include the Predix IoT platform. You might remember that Predix was a big deal at GE under former CEO Jeffrey Immelt but has been “struggling with technical issues and weakening sales”, according to Reuters. This move is part of GE’s restructuring under new CEO John Flannery, who wants to refocus the company on its jet engine, power plant and renewable energy businesses, selling off assets that don’t fit into this blueprint..

None of the reports I’ve seen specify what, exactly, GE is considering selling (or for how much) but this is important in a PLMish context because it could create an entry point for companies not currently betting big on IoT on their own. As I understand the technical issues Reuters mentioned, acquiring these assets would come with problems that need fixing — but also with an installed base of GE customers, development resources and established partnerships with Amazon and Microsoft for their cloud platforms.

Whether the acquirer is a PLM company, an industrial equipment maker, an enterprise software supplier or someone else, it’s an interesting opportunity.