The push to get more data from every part of an organization is pointing toward the need to align the two technology worlds known as OT and IT. The leading technology research and advisory company Gartner defines OT-IT integration as “the end state sought by organizations (most commonly, asset-intensive organizations) where instead of a separation of IT and OT as technology areas with different areas of authority and responsibility, there is an integrated process and information flow.” Such an alignment of OT and IT would lay the groundwork to bring forth incredible benefits for organizations and professionals working in the two fields.

As we dive deeper, let’s look at how organizations can reap huge benefits and build a more successful future by aligning their OT side with their IT side.

Benefit: Better Decision-Making

When machines and devices are not connected to the IT network infrastructure, the other parts of the enterprise are not able to take advantage of all of that useful real-time data and operational intelligence. But when OT and IT are aligned, there is a greater quantity and quality of information across the organization, which ultimately leads to improved decision-making. Imagine, for  example, if everyone in your organization had live dashboards; they could see key performance indicators (KPIs) at a glance to help them perform better in their jobs.

As another example, consider an oil pipeline. On any given installation, there can be over 10,000 miles of pipeline, thousands of PLCs and devices, and miles of wiring. In a typical operational environment, only critical operational data is used for monitoring and safe operation. About 90% of the data is left out in the field. The OT-IT alignment can help bring all of that pipeline data and much more to the enterprise level. Additional data on the health status of all devices on the network aid in decisions such as whether to send a repair vehicle or to solve the problem at the local level.

Benefit: Smaller Cost, Greater Value

Cost reduction is another great benefit of OT-IT alignment. Connecting OT to the IT and enterprise level by traditional means can potentially incur a large cost. However, OT can benefit from the affordability that IT enjoys due to the low cost of maintenance and licensing.

Since IT focuses on scalability, having a solution that leverages an unlimited licensing model can help reduce costs and alleviate restrictions. Additionally, when data can be easily accessed in real-time, OT and IT can share data across an organization, which facilitates better and faster decisions that help to avoid costly errors, and enables the implementation of cost-saving measures such as predictive maintenance.

By integrating OT and IT systems, the overall system delivers greater value for the organization by optimizing the way information is shared and improving their investment.

Benefit: Lower Risk

Aligning OT and IT lowers the risk for organizations in a number of ways. Traditionally, floor operators would have to manually read, write, and input data in order to share it around the plant floor, let alone the rest of the enterprise. While there may be checks and balances in place, this method of sharing information has a higher likelihood of human error. By leveraging technologies from IT, you get the higher data accessibility, stability, and fluidity of an IT
infrastructure for an OT environment. This reduces the opportunity for human error since data is shared directly from one point to another.

Upgrading operational systems or replacing equipment presents a huge risk. However, by integrating a SCADA system into an IT infrastructure, you can get access to a larger volume of high-quality data without impacting the existing SCADA system. Through technologies such as SQL databases, you can access more data without compromising the operation of the SCADA system, and reduce the risks of downtime and loss of revenue.

Some SCADA systems are classified as mission-critical, and connecting them to other systems or the Internet is a major risk. With today’s standard IT security protocols, OT professionals can rest assured that their SCADA system will not be compromised. For example, IT often uses bank-level security technology such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), which establishes an encrypted link between a client and a server. Furthermore, IT security practices such as client authentication and auditing systems help to manage users. Organizations can control who can access certain systems, what information users can see, and view users’ behaviors, all with a click of a button.

Benefit: Standardization

With IT’s strengths in standardization, organizations can leverage well-defined standards to improve compatibility and interoperability. Connecting several proprietary systems can be a headache and can incur an extreme cost, which severely limits a company’s ability to scale such solutions.

With open standards, proprietary technology is a thing of the past. Having open standards helps to make integration easier, and allows organizations to easily scale their systems without impacting the overall performance. Technologies such as virtual machines and cloud services can host plant- or manufacturing-floor servers, helping to reduce on-site equipment as well as connecting remote systems easily. Organizations can add more to their systems without the hindrances of traditional solutions.

The convergence of OT and IT is helping to make data accessible to all levels of an organization as well as yield great benefits. These benefits help to alleviate pain points in three important areas of great concerns to businesses: cost, risk, and standardization.

As the OT-IT convergence continues, organizations will benefit greatly from the resulting technological innovations and performance improvements. It is also important, however, to be aware of the challenges that can be encountered in the process of aligning these two areas. In the next article, we’ll look at some of these challenges and how organizations can meet them effectively.