[Editor's Note] The numerical data mainly handled by accounting and ERP in companies is now changing in form and the amount of data generated is also changing, so new methods for storing and utilizing data are needed. In addition, in the manufacturing field, data is generated and processed immediately, so new methods for processing such manufacturing field data are required, and in this situation, methods for efficiently responding without excessive cost investment are also a concern for companies. In this situation, SUSE is helping to lead manufacturing innovation by distributing and operating software in the factory-centered data production site and analyzing and applying data. To this end, Boji met with Hong Su-se Korea CEO to learn about data management in the manufacturing industry using AI, cloud, and edge, and how to easily apply this to production sites.


■ I would like to hear about Su-se’s performance last year and Su-se’s plans for this year.

It has been five years since Soose started business in Korea.

I took on the role of branch manager in October 2020 and started to build a full-fledged water business organization, and four years have already passed.

Looking back on last year, SUSE achieved growth of more than 30% even in difficult IT industry conditions.

While this is an impressive achievement in terms of numbers alone, the customer base has also expanded and become more robust.

In particular, Hyundai Motor Company directly participated and gave a keynote speech at 'Susecon' held in Berlin, Germany in June.

Hyundai Motor Company shared its experience of successfully operating a connected car service using SUSE Rancher and announced its vision to apply it to over 10 million Hyundai vehicles in the future to provide quality services to customers around the world. This announcement received a huge response.

In addition, several customers, including Hyundai Steel and Dong-A University, shared successful cases of effectively using GPU resources using SUSE Rancher.

As this customer base grows, SUSE's partner ecosystem also becomes stronger and more expansive.

Last year was an important year for Susung to successfully deliver its internally developed offerings to the market and to steadily expand its customer and partner ecosystem based on this.

This year, we are aiming for even greater growth based on this.

Of course, there are many concerns about economic conditions and market conditions, but these difficult conditions can actually be an opportunity for the underdog.

As the economy struggles, both large and small businesses are looking for ways to prioritize cost cutting.

SUSE offers a cost-effective alternative in the open source space, and is meeting the demand for alternative technology companies that offer more reasonable prices beyond Linux due to the rising prices of VMware.

It also helps to allay corporate concerns about the market dominance of big players like IBM, Red Hat, Broadcom, and VMware.

This perception of cost savings and de-dependence is consistent with SUSE's existing messaging, generating a more positive response.

Partners are also encouraged by these areas and are exploring opportunities with greater potential.

Based on this positive outlook, Susei expects continued growth going forward.

■ Digital transformation has now become an inevitable trend in the manufacturing industry. On the other hand, many companies are still struggling with digital transformation, especially in data management and cloud deployment. Advice on digital transformation in manufacturing

I understand that many companies are concerned about digital transformation.

I know you're thinking a lot about where and how to start, but digitalization can be seen as the process of converting products and processes to digital technology.

The form, processing method, and storage method of the data generated through this have changed significantly from the past.

In the past, corporate computer systems mainly dealt with standardized, numerical data, but digitalization of manufacturing sites is creating various forms of data.

This is also changing data processing technologies and processes.

When promoting digitalization in the manufacturing industry, it is common to utilize public clouds, but manufacturing sites have requirements for processing data immediately due to the nature of work occurring in factories and remote locations.

These requirements are often difficult to address with centralized public clouds.

Therefore, factory-centric edge computing technology becomes necessary.

SUSE provides solutions that distribute and operate software on factory floors by utilizing edge computing technology and open source.

Through this, we are helping the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry.

Let's take BMW as an example.

BMW, a long-time customer of SUSE, has implemented SUSE’s edge computing solutions into its production sites to drive innovation in manufacturing.

For example, in an automobile factory, when a robot transports parts, there is a data delay problem, so to solve this, data processing is handled within the factory.

This increases the accuracy of the robot and makes it more productive.Maximized mountain efficiency.

Additionally, AI technology is being utilized to improve quality.

We monitor the production process in real time through high-resolution camera modules, and quickly identify and respond to quality issues through data analysis.

This digital transformation is contributing to improving quality and efficiency by digitizing various data from manufacturing sites and building software and environments to process them.

SUSE continues to provide solutions that support this digital transformation and is helping to innovate the manufacturing industry.

■ Edge computing is expected to be very important for processing data generated in various industrial sites. Each industry has a different environment and there are more than one or two things to consider, such as cost and security. I understand that SUSE can improve operational efficiency for various industries through SUSE Edge 3.1. I would like to hear about edge computing in manufacturing sites and SUSE Edge 3.1.

We've talked about this briefly through the BMW case, but now SUSE is bundling various open sources that boast the best performance in the open source field through edge solutions to provide the stack needed for the edge environment.

The design philosophy of SUSE seen through version 3.1 of the SUSE Edge solution can be said to be diversity. Although it is expressed in the word manufacturing, the requirements of each sub-industry of manufacturing are very diverse, so one solution cannot satisfy everyone.

On the other hand, we are trying to address the edge requirements of manufacturing and the various issues and constraints of edge computing while meeting the common requirements as much as possible.

There are several limitations. In the case of factories located remotely, large servers cannot be installed due to physical space limitations, and there are bound to be limitations such as network latency.

There are also challenges in software distribution and management that are different from those in traditional cloud environments.

Computing resources in the edge area are operated at scales of 10,000, 100,000, and 1 million units in terms of scalability.

It is necessary to deploy, operate, and manage the life cycle of computing resources while meeting these constraints.

To meet these needs, Suse provides a comprehensive solution by connecting various open sources and open sources developed in-house.

This is the SUSE Edge 3.1 version, with the recent 3.2 version released in January of this year, and is a solution that enhances retail scenarios.

The goal of the SUSE Edge solution is to provide a flexible and safe solution that is lightweight and modular.

These solutions are being used in various manufacturing sites, including BMW.

It is being utilized not only in the digitalization of manufacturing sites but also in various industries such as telco, retail, public, and defense.

In industrial settings, devices are changing from analog to digital, and software is needed to control computing resources.

SUSE Edge Solutions provides a variety of open source and software in one platform to meet these needs.

In this way, SUSE's edge solutions are supporting digital transformation in various industrial fields.

■ As the cloud native market environment changes, providing modern, open, and secure solutions has become more important than ever. SUSE Rancher Prime is gaining attention as a comprehensive solution that helps companies control their environments freely and effectively. Please introduce SUSE Rancher Prime and give advice on building an enterprise cloud.

When talking about the advantages of the Suse Rancher, the Rancher's philosophy itself emphasizes true openness with the expression 'open open'.

Rancher is designed based on Kubernetes, a standard technology for container orchestration, and integrates various tools and open source software to provide an intuitive and secure container orchestration tool.

Kubernetes has become a market standard as an alternative to virtualization, but various tools are needed to properly manage and operate it.

It takes a lot of effort for companies to install and integrate these tools one by one.

Rancher aims to reduce this effort and provide a fast and secure container orchestration tool.

Additionally, the current cloud native environment is developing by sharing open source, so it is not a form in which a specific company dominates.

AWS provides EKS, Azure provides AKS, and Google provides GKE, etc.

Enterprises are using a variety of cloud services like these, and often configure Kubernetes in their own on-premises environments.

To meet these complex requirements, Rancher integrates multi-cloud services into a single solution.

This allows companies to centrally manage and operate various cloud services.

Rancher provides solutions for configuring and operating EKS, AKS, and GKE clusters.all.

Rancher bundles and integrates open source software and provides cloud-native services by connecting them with multiple multi-cloud services.

This allows companies to quickly and easily transition to cloud native and operate in a variety of environments.

In fact, Rancher has been downloaded a lot worldwide and is being used by many companies.

Rancher works with the community to provide ongoing technical support to users and help ensure stable operation.

Through these communities, Rancher provides enterprises with the solutions they need to transition to a cloud-native environment.

■ SUSE Linux is a reliable open source that combines stability and the latest technology. Once you use SUSE software, you will not be able to use any other solution. I want to hear about the unique features of SUSE Linux

SUSE began offering commercial Linux for enterprise mission-critical tasks in 1992, a year after Linux Torvalds released Linux.

IBM and Red Hat came to market in 1993, so they started a little earlier.

For the past 32 years, SUSE has consistently been at the forefront of Linux innovation, providing the most secure and high-performance Linux for enterprises.

SuSE has a unique ability to quickly adapt to new Linux kernel releases and create innovative products.

This allows us to provide kernel releases that are always ahead of our competitors.

Additionally, SuSE provides an intuitive control panel that makes it easy for anyone to use Linux, reducing learning curve.

This helps you run a Linux server as easily as you would use Windows on your personal PC.

One of the most burdensome parts of running Linux is the constant patch updates.

SUSE introduced live patching, enabling patch updates without system downtime.

This has enabled stable operation without downtime 365 days a year.

SUSE also developed the first solution in the Linux space to configure a high-availability environment to support a high-availability environment.

It is used in mission-critical systems such as SMP and is also being adopted by competitors.

It also provides an OS rollback function, allowing stable operation of the system without a separate backup solution.

In terms of security, SUSE is also ahead.

FIPS 1, the US Federal Government's security mechanismIt meets FIPS 140-3, a quantum-resistant cryptographic requirement, and is the first to receive EAL4+, an international standard CC certification.

We also maintain a high level of security and stability during the software development process.

SUSE's portfolio consists of Linux-related products.

In addition to Linux for servers, it also provides desktop Linux, Linux for special workloads such as SAP, and Linux for lightweight environments, and can be used in various CPU and memory environments.

Recently, we have been supporting management of various Linux environments with a single solution through a solution called Multi-Linux Manager.

We also provide technical support to companies that use Red Hat Linux to reduce costs and suggest cost-saving alternatives.

In the cloud native area, we are providing integrated multi-cloud services through Rancher Prime and also announced the SUSE AI solution for AI workloads.

Through this, we are supporting companies to protect data in a private environment and build AI environments.

In this way, SuSe continues to innovate and meet the needs of enterprises through a diverse portfolio ranging from Linux to cloud native, edge solutions, and AI solutions.

■ Please give a brief introduction to the content presented at the '2025 IIoT Innovation Day_Part2' seminar to be held on March 12th.

We will discuss several cases and SUSE's solutions to effectively promote digital transformation in the manufacturing industry by utilizing cloud native infrastructure in the AI era.

Practical advice you can use in your manufacturing environment. I plan to drill.

■ A final word to e4ds readers

This year, economic conditions are very difficult. In terms of manufacturing, manufacturers such as steel and chemicals are experiencing great difficulties as China is dumping its accumulated inventory.

According to the news, BYD's electric vehicles are penetrating the Korean electric vehicle market, which has been protected by subsidies and technological superiority, with price competitiveness.

Accordingly, this year is expected to be a difficult year for Korean manufacturing in terms of securing competitiveness, developing overseas markets, and maintaining the domestic market.

From that perspective, digital transformation is being emphasized.

It is important to communicate with each area of the business to figure out how to digitize data and use it to gain a competitive edge.

We believe that cloud-native edge computing will play a very important role in this process.

I hope that you will take note of these parts and maintain your company's competitiveness, even though this year will be a difficult time.


Meanwhile, e4ds news will hold the ' 2025 IIoT Innovation Day_Part2 ' event on the topic of digital transformation of manufacturing using AI and cloud at conference room 318 on the 3rd floor of COEX on Wednesday, March 12. At this event, Choi Geun-hong, CEO of Suse Korea, will present on the topic of 'Cloud-native based edge solution for smart manufacturing industry in the AI era.' You can register for the event at https://www.e4ds.com/conference/iiot-innovation-day-part2/program.asp .