Microsoft's Role in Hitachi Energy's Revamped Ellipse System

Convenience is a huge part of the utopian vision of AI.

With automation, it offers the ability to make complex processes far easier than ever before, whether that is directing traffic to avoid congestion, optimising power grids to reduce surges or providing real-time maintenance alerts to ensure critical infrastructure keeps running.

Hitachi Energy is currently working to do just that.

The Japanese firm is overhauling its Ellipse Enterprise Asset Management platform with help from Microsoft's AI and cloud technologies, aiming to help the operators of infrastructure in sectors including transport and energy to move beyond reactive maintenance strategies.

The reinvented system combines Ellipse EAM with with four distinct Microsoft technologies: Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Foundry. The end result is what the two firms describe as a unified solution for managing critical infrastructure.

The move also represents an extension of a partnership which Hitachi and Microsoft first announced in June 2024.

"Hitachi Energy has decades of experience building and operating the infrastructure that keeps modern life running," says Massimo Danieli, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Business Unit Grid Automation at Hitachi Energy.

"Microsoft technology accelerates and enhances value to our Ellipse customers, while also bringing to market a solution that is unmatched in terms of IT and OT capabilities, offering essential service providers the ability to operate more intelligently and sustainably."

Breaking down data silos

The integration addresses a long-standing problem in infrastructure operations: data silos.

For many years, the systems that companies use to manage their assets have operated independently from their resource planning platforms, often referred to as ERPs.

Hitachi is hoping to solve this problem by connecting these systems, giving users what the company describes as end-to-end visibility across assets, finance and operations.

The new-and-improved version of Ellipse can analyse supply chain, human resources and financial data to recommend optimal maintenance timing, potentially reducing the frequency of emergency repairs.

Dayan Rodriguez, Corporate Vice President for Manufacturing and Mobility at Microsoft, framed the collaboration as a shift in operational philosophy.

"Critical Infrastructure operators need insight they can act on," he explains.

"Together with Hitachi Energy, we're combining AI, cloud and enterprise systems to help organisations move from reactive maintenance to predictive operations, improving reliability, safety and long-term value for the infrastructure society depends on."

How Hitachi will implement the new system

Hitachi Energy looks set to deploy the solution through its network of system integrators, with Hitachi Solutions serving as the primary implementation partner.

Hitachi Solutions was recently recognised as Microsoft Dynamics 365 (Finance) Partner of the Year.

Soichiro Ohara, Chairman and CEO of Hitachi Solutions America, said the integration could drive efficiencies in operational technology applications.

"Hitachi Solutions is proud to support this strategic reinvention and the tremendous impact it can have to drive new efficiencies into critical OT applications," he says.

"Our role is to drive rapid deployment, integration and business outcomes, ensuring customers realize the full potential of this industry-leading AI-driven solution."

How Ellipse sits in the market

The initiative comes as electricity networks, rail systems and manufacturing facilities face mounting pressure from increased demand, extreme weather events and aging components.

Failures in these systems can trigger cascading impacts including widespread power outages, safety incidents and economic losses.

Ellipse has been in the market for 40 years and forms part of Hitachi's Asset & Work Management suite, which supports the company's HMAX Energy portfolio of digitally enabled services.

Hitachi Energy reported revenues of approximately US$16bn and employs over 50,000 people across 60 countries, with an installed base in more than 140 nations.