IT/OT Convergence Will Lead to Agility in Decision-Making

Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) diverged and developed in silos. Since the emergence of M2M communications several years ago though, slowly but surely, they have started to converge. Unfortunately, up until now, a fractured solutions market and simple lack of communication between IT and OT departments have made it difficult to scale Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions designed to increase access to data. Only recently has the market started to consolidate and have companies started to solve the structural challenges to IT/OT integration. As OT employs more sensors and connections to collect more data from equipment, devices and processes, it needs the security and standardization of IT to successfully process this data and store and share the insights between internal departments and external suppliers and customers.

Application enablement platforms based either in the cloud or on the edge make IT/OT integration much easier. As more companies adopt platforms such as GE Predix or Siemens Mindsphere, the more pressure competitors will face to do the same. This driver has increasing force not only as adoption picks up but also as the applications and capabilities expand to improve utility. IT/OT convergence starts at the edge, but cloud platforms and unified IT architecture hold the key to integrating with the rest of the enterprise. Ultimately though, corporations need to figure out for themselves the optimal balance of distributed and consolidated computing that suits their cost structure and systems architecture.

To integrate OT connected devices into both edge and cloud solutions, enterprises must align strategies from both the top-down and the bottom-up. From the top-down, companies need a Chief Digital Office or Chief IoT Officer to own the overarching strategy and systems architecture. From the bottom-up, companies should put IT liaisons on every OT team. For this to work properly, the liaisons must have IT skills and report directly to the IT department, but the company must also train them to work as part of a specific OT team. This will increase communication and the exchange of ideas between IT and other departments, and it will help business units better understand how to use IIoT platforms and IT systems.

When testing new solutions, the CDO should set a KPI to determine whether to scale. If they hit the target, they should commit and deploy the app company-wide, not let everything die at the pilot or PoC stage. The combination of the CDO’s strategy and liaisons’ communication should help scale and integrate new apps.

As apps scale, more employees will have more access to more accurate and up-to-date information. Better and more up-to-date information results in better and faster decision making. Access to shared information and more communication also leads to new ideas and innovation. Innovation leads to new products for new customers and therefore growth.

See our new research report entitled IT/OT Convergence in Smart Manufacturing and Enterprise, for a deeper dive into IT/OT convergence and integration.