General Electric (GE) said on Wednesday it is developing a cloud-based service tailored for industrial customers. GE Chief Executive Jeff Immelt has bet on developing analytics and software for customers of the company's jet engines, power-generating turbines, healthcare equipment and other industrial products.

More than 50 billion machines are expected to be connected to the Internet by 2020, according to GE.

GE's customized cloud offering is built on the Predix operating system it had previously developed for software used by its customers. Predix Cloud is designed to improve the operating system while incorporating security and regulatory requirements specialized for industrial data and applications.

Ruh described Predix Cloud as a "gated community" of industrial users, as opposed to a public cloud infrastructure open to anyone.

Some GE customers have begun using Predix Cloud with a broad launch set for the fourth quarter, Ruh said.