A key technology convergence impacting the mainstream adoption of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) is the integration of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT). Examples of business functions that are managed using OT might be running process or discrete manufacturing, logistics, remote security, etc. Technology Infrastructure Management is the lowest data level discussed in Blazent’s Enterprise Data Layer video.
Below are five potential pitfalls to avoid when considering unified IT and OT:
- Visibility: Improving visibility across unified IT/OT infrastructure provides some benefits, such as enabling a single service desk to handle both IT and OT domains and being able to use common management tools. Manufacturing plants tend to operate on closed networks, however, and, therefore, are not hardened against attacks that IT networks are used to defending. A significant proportion of IoT sensors used in OT environments are simple devices that do not implement sophisticated security, creating an additional level of exposure for IT.
- Security: Although operational technology can create a risk for IT, there is, however, an upside of converging IT and OT. The converged technology infrastructure can be subject to the same security policies and can use common compliance controls. This unified approach can help improve security across the entire organization.
- Scalability: By operating OT and IT in separate silos, you miss opportunities to procure complementary technology for both. Purchasing can negotiate better discounts if it is buying technology in high volumes and IT can buy IT and OT technology that works together because it can be pre-integrated.
- Administration: By keeping IT and OT separated, an organization cannot benefit from being able to lower administration costs through streamlining and centralizing management. In the logistics industry, these centralized management centers, or control towers, consume location and status data of assets across their network.
- Collaboration: Since OT is normally more closely aligned with how the business makes money, higher up the food chain a converged IT and OT solution can improve the partnership between business and IT, thereby avoiding the friction from conflicting management goals and practices that can slow operations.
Accelerating IoT adoption is driving rapid convergence and extending IT asset management (ITAM). IT tends to have more modern and sophisticated tools that can now be applied more broadly to make a bigger impact on the business. Blazent focuses on providing near real-time insights by being able to ingest and analyze large numbers of IT and IoT data streams, correcting data gaps and inconsistencies before the data is consumed. You can learn more about the state of data quality management in a 451 Research report that Blazent sponsored here. It describes the state of adoption of machine learning and predictive analytics across enterprises.