Is NI dropping support for Lookout?

[Maggie]

i was trying to decide which SCADA/HMI software to use on a project. i was told that NI was dropping support for Lookout soon. This will affect my decision. Is it true?

Maggie

[erblock]

Fotunately, over many years, Lookout has not been a product that requires a lot of support, especially if you know what devices you want to talk to before you purchase.

Major upgrades have had their bugs....like any other software.

Unfortunately, Lookout was purchased eleven years ago with the sole intent of using its technology to enhance National Instruments flagship product line "LabView".  That intent is close to fruition and it's anyones guess as to when they will totally drop or sell Lookout technology.

National Instruments has not pushed Lookout as a product since around 1999....maybe 2000.  They totally dropped the product name from their annual showcase in Austin, Texas at "NI Week" around 2001 and It has never returned.

As an end user who uses and regularly sees the value of LabView in academia and research, I can understand how important the product is to everyone involved.  But I never could foresee Lookout functionality properly "imbedded" within LabView for true industrial automation.

Lookout in my mind deserves to be and really...needs to be a separate product, forever.

As long as LabView and Lookout can talk to each other, Lookout can and should have it's own world of high praise.  I just don't see it happening with the current leadership at NI.

For Lookout to really take off...something big needs to change in Austin!

It is a great product, even with its minimal development and support staffing.  Make a deal with NI to give it a whirl and test the support for yourself.  The upside is that Lookout takes very little development time on your end to give it a good testing.  Personally, in my opinion the downside is minimally risky.  There are plenty of VAR companies out there that can help review your requirements to see if Lookout is a good fit and to lessen your risk.  Of course...the more users we get on the Lookout wagon, the more leverage we have to make things better!

Good Luck!

Ed Block

MIT, Cambridge, MA

[Arun_V]

Hello Maggie,

We are not planning on dropping support for Lookout. Even though Lookout is not as big as our flagship product - LabVIEW, we still have dedicated R&D people working on it. The recent major release of Lookout (version 6.0) further reiterates that point. Even in the worst case, there are lot of Alliance members out there who will be more than happy to help you out with your SCADA application.

Regards,

Arun V

National Instruments.

[erblock]

Hi Arun,

Glad to see someone step up on this finally.  Tell me though....When was the last time anyone can attest to seeing the word "Lookout" displayed on the exhibition floor at NI Week?  Or, when was the last time a session title or description at NI Week used the word Lookout other than as a "subnote".

It is disheartening to see such neglect of Lookout at the corporate Big Show.  Can you explain this corporate management philosophy?  Do you folks wonder why you get questions such as Maggie's?

Lookout's image to the general NI audience NEEDS fixing....END of STORY. (in my opinion of course..

Cheers,

Ed

[Khalid]

Hi Ed,

I can't agree with you more.  Lookout's a neat product.  NI has tried to incorporate some of the Lookout technology into its LabVIEW platform and elsewhere -- the newer DSC tag engine, Citadel database, the communication protocol used by ethernet-based FieldPoint controllers, etc., for instance.  But the Lookout development environment, objects, support for modems, and above all the ease-of- use will be sorely missed... IF it's discontinued, that is. 

"Lookout in my mind [too!] deserves to be and really...needs to be a separate product, forever."

-Khalid

[Ollie]

Add my name to the list of Lookout supporters!!

I love Lookout.  I have been a developer since 2000, and have yet to find a better, easier to use SCADA HMI Package with all the offerings that LOOKOUT has.  Lookout is rock solid.

I am attending NI Week this year, and will be wearing my LOOKOUT shirt proudly!!!

[erblock]

Not to rub it in too much...

Does anyone see the word Lookout here: http://www.ni.com/ or even here: http://www.ni.com/products/ ??

No subliminal messages required....right up front!

Lookout deserves better!

Lookout caries the name of someone else's product and NI is too proud to let someone else's product name take the lime-light (even though NI can certainly take credit for significant enhancements, extentions and additions to the technology).  This must be a personal management issue and is certainly not a good buisiness decision (in my opinion only...of course). :smileyvery-happy

Ed

[Arun_V]

Hello erblock, Khalid and Ollie,

Thanks for all your support and compliments towards Lookout. As an engineer who uses Lookout on a regular basis, I connot agree more on some of the strong points of Lookout.

No offense meant or taken on the post by erblock, but in http://www.ni.com/products/, Lookout is listed in the pull down menu of NI Software.

Again thanks for all your support towards lookout. I have learnt a lot from all three of your posts. Khalid deserves a special mention - as I invariably get to his posts when I am looking for some answers myself.

Ollie, I will be on the "lookout" for you wearing your "Lookout" shirt during NI Week.

As a final note, I do not see us discontinuing Lookout as a product as it is a big product, with R&D people working on it and of course loyal users like you.

Thanks,

Arun V

National Instruments

[erblock]

Hi Arun,

I like that...on a pulldown no less!!

No offense taken.

We'll just have to see if your Lookout developers are as candid and available by watching how long it takes someone to acknowledge my newest issue with Lookout 6 posted in this forum yesterday.

Cheers to all...

Ed

And...I couldn't agree more with your praise for Kahlid.

[Khalid]

Arun and Ed,

Thank you for the compliments.  We all learn from each other.  It's good to be back after a short stint with non-NI technology.

As for the Lookout 6 issues Ed (and others) have been seeing, I am wondering what is the issue that manifests itself in Lookout (only?)... because, Citadel5, which is what Lookout 6 has, was actually released with LabVIEW DSC 7.x last year some time (or was it 2003?).  And I don't remember any such remoting issues with that. 

Regards,

-Khalid