Ron Elliot: It’s fairly straightforward. In the past, serial devices were plugged directly into a PC or server. What we’re doing now is simply taking that connection from the PC and plugging it into our Digi device instead. From there, if customers centralize their compute — whether to the cloud or a centralized management facility — we deploy the Digi RealPort driver on the server that was looking for a COM port, or we configure the port for a different type of communication, such as TCP socket, UDP, or Modbus. The serial connection itself works the same way. You’re plugging it into our device, then configuring the server side appropriately so communication flows over the network — and securely.

Ron Elliot: It depends on the situation. If a site lacks a reliable physical internet connection, our devices include an optional CORE module that can add cellular connectivity as a supplement. That cellular connection creates a secure VPN tunnel, so traffic remains encrypted. It’s a practical way to provide coverage in areas where a physical internet connection simply isn’t available.

Ron Elliot: Our devices include a software feature called Digi SureLink that monitors the primary internet connection. You can configure it to watch a specific target — a website, an IP address, or the interface itself. If connectivity drops, SureLink automatically fails over to a programmed backup. That backup can be a secondary physical connection or the CORE module’s cellular connectivity.

Ron Elliot: It depends on the size and scale of the deployment, but we start with a proof of concept. The goal is to show that the implementation is fast and repeatable. For the Connect EZ product line, we use a tool called Digi Navigator, which handles discovery of Connect EZ devices on the network and automates configuration of both the device and the host computer. In a typical walk-through with a customer, with cabling already in place, we’re looking at 10 to 15 minutes per device. Once customers see it done once, they can generally handle subsequent deployments on their own.

Ron Elliot: If they’ve already placed a value on a truck roll or an outage, that’s usually the fastest path to ROI justification. If you can show centralized communication at a proof-of-concept or pilot site — and demonstrate that a technician can now triage a device remotely instead of driving out to it — the numbers tend to speak for themselves. We’ve had cases where a customer told us their equipment being offline cost them $100,000 a minute. When a $25,000 hardware proposal can eliminate that exposure, it’s a straightforward business case. The key first step is understanding what an outage or truck roll actually costs before a solution exists.

Ron Elliot: Yes. We don’t require customers to go all-cloud or stay fully on-premises. In manufacturing, for example, the business LAN typically has internet connectivity, and devices in that space can connect to Digi Remote Manager, our cloud-based management offering. On the production floor, or in utility and oil and gas environments where systems are air-gapped, we offer an on-premises management option. Centralized visibility is just as critical in those environments — they just can’t connect to the internet. We support both.

Ron Elliot: We support Modbus and can communicate with Allen-Bradley PLCs. With the Digi RealPort driver, we function as the transport layer, which means customers using protocols like DNP3 or PROFINET in utility environments can transport that traffic to an endpoint that handles translation. We also support native translation for Modbus, EtherNet/IP, Allen-Bradley and PROFINET, and we’re adding more protocol support this year.

Ron Elliot: A few key differences stand out. First, security. Older hardware — in some cases equipment that has been in place for 10 to 15 years — was often deployed without encryption, partly because those environments were air-gapped and the threat model was different. Today, our communication over TCP, UDP and RealPort is encrypted by default. Our AnywhereUSB solution is also encrypted by default. We’ve standardized on TLS 1.2 and can enforce TLS 1.3, which puts us in line with current standards.

Second, redundancy. Most Connect EZ and AnywhereUSB devices include at least two Ethernet ports, and we support a feature called bonding. In industrial and manufacturing environments with redundant networks, Ethernet bonding allows failover without a visible disconnection if the primary leg goes down. Those are the most meaningful differences customers see when comparing newer Digi hardware to what they had before.