Change is in the air as 2021 draws to a close. The COVID pandemic continues to keep the world on edge. Mask or no mask, kids in school or remote, supply chain challenges, varying and unpredictable case rates, and the omicron variant complicating the vaccine roll out and a return to “normal.” Pandemic fatigue has sunk its teeth into our society’s fabric, but there are so many reasons to be optimistic.
We are deeply appreciative of our amazing suppliers and partners, our incredible and patient customers, and our strong and resilient teams. As we look back on 2021, we are upbeat about all we achieved this past year and ready to charge into the New Year. Here are a few highlights from the year that fuel our optimism for the future.
Proactively Managing Change
Digi has a very broad array of offerings that span the globe. The pandemic and its ripple effects have put tremendous pressure on our supply chain. However, we are not only meeting these challenges head on, but finding ways to thrive, serve our customers and achieve great things. We have been proactively securing supply, sourcing and designing in alternate components, and working in shifts with smart protocols keeping our supply chain heroes productive and safe.
Throughout the pandemic we have lived and breathed a mantra that each individual in our organization must take their health and well-being seriously, and have operated on a hybrid model that has helped us to navigate the changing pandemic guidelines. We have leveraged our incredible IT systems to encourage collaboration and community. This approach has paid off, and our teams have not skipped a beat in productivity.
Additionally, Digi has continued to build on our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives, with employee education and training, an expansion of our human resources drive to promote inclusive hiring, and ensure that our language and daily operations actively promote fairness and inclusion in all we do. We embrace each other’s differences and perspectives, knowing it will ultimately lead to a better culture and better outcomes.
Acquisitions
Digi welcomed fantastic new teams into our family this past year, as we rapidly migrate our business into software and services. Our 2021 acquisitions supported our drive to build out our offerings in some key verticals and further Digi as a leader in industrial IoT.
Haxiot – March 2021
Haxiot is an industry leader in end-to-end LoRaWAN®-based solutions, including the X-ON IoT cloud platform. This strategic addition broadens our portfolio of fast-to-deploy solutions under our Embedded Systems business unit.
The growth of LoRa and LoRaWAN deployments is meteoric across remote industrial applications, and we believe the broad use cases and the recent announcement by the LoRa Alliance® that
LoRaWAN is now an official standard will drive enormous adoption. See the Digi
press release for additional information on the Haxiot acquisition.
Ctek – July 2021
Ctek is a provider of wireless and wired solutions for industrial monitoring and control. The group has an excellent portfolio and customer base in industries that require ruggedized products for automation and remote management, such as lighting, agriculture/irrigation, and water/waste-water management.
This acquisition uniquely positions Digi to provide customers with both battery and hardwired options for the control and monitoring of industrial applications from complex offshore oil rig locations to localized deployments such as municipal park lighting. See the Digi
press release for additional information on the Ctek acquisition.
Ventus Holdings – November 2021
Ventus Holdings, the largest acquisition in Digi’s history, expands our portfolio with Managed Network-as-a-Service (MNaaS) solutions that simplify the complexity of enterprise wide area network (WAN) connectivity.
Ventus provides software and subscription service plans, along with award-winning hardware, thereby strengthening our position as a supplier of complete, high-value networking solutions. See the Digi
press release for additional information the Ventus acquisition.
We will continue to grow through adoption of innovative technologies, solutions and services that augment our offerings and support our customer quests.
Exciting Results and Recognition
Our drive to grow and flourish through the challenging business environment paid off. In 2021, we were thrilled to hit some milestones and break some historic records for the organization.
Quarterly and Annual Results
New Product/Solution Introductions
New solutions announced in 2021 included offerings across our business units:
- Digi’s Cellular business unit in April announced the launch of new 5G cellular devices for enterprise and transportation applications, with centralized management and control via Digi Remote Manager®. In October, the Digi TX64 5G Rail router solution joined Digi’s 5G family of solutions.
- Opengear, a Digi Company, in March expanded its NetOps console server line with the launch of 10 GbE interface models and 1 GbE Ethernet ports. In addition, Lighthouse Enterprise Automation edition was released.
- SmartSense by Digi in May announced an ultra-compact B2 sensor to optimize critical temperature and humidity monitoring in food service and grocery operations.
- Digi’s OEM and Embedded Solutions group announced:Digi IX15, the first combined IoT gateway and cellular router built for industrial use cases deploying Digi XBee® RF modules. Digi ConnectCore® 8M Mini, a highly integrated and cost-effective system-on-module for development of mission-critical industrial, medical, transportation and agriculture applications.
- Digi’s Infrastructure Management business unit in December announced the launch of the Digi Connect EZ line of serial device servers, which configure in minutes and deliver high levels of security, data consistency and usability.
Recognition
Additional announcements and milestones for the year included a range of awards and recognitions, both for Digi and for our customers.
- In April, Digi announced its first Green Tech Customer Awards, honoring the sustainable solutions of 6 Digi customers, timed with Earth Day.
- In July, Digi WR31 industrial cellular router solutions won the IoT Evolution Product of the Year Award.
- In September, Digi announced the rollout of a new customer portal, my.digi.com, designed for ease-of-use, customization and rapid access to supporting content, knowledge base articles and training videos.
- In November, Digi’s pilot transit capacity management project with Chicago Transit Authority won the IoT Deployment of the Year Award from IoT World
Many times, it seems like change has peaked, but I’m convinced it will only accelerate. We invite you to stay tuned!
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