Industrial IoT and IT/OT Convergence: How to Reap Benefits and Avoid Pitfalls

By Brad Gilbert, FreeWave Technologies

The Internet of Things (IoT) is more than the newest fitness monitor or cool device. It is the process of transparently deploying countless sensors and devices, which produce data that is transformed into valued information.

This happens each time a consumer buys a smart device, such as a fitness monitor. The consumer knowingly enables the device to monitor an event, such as a run. In turn, the device creates data, e.g. step count, which is transported across the internet to a cloud application. Analytics are then performed on aggregated data, e.g. friends’ data, to create information, e.g. rankings, which is then consumed through human or machine action, e.g. to run farther or possibly faster.

This IoT process of creating, transporting, storing and acting on data for consumer applications is a similar to the process needed for industrial applications, which focus on measuring production and operational factors, distributing data to business systems and people within an organization, and directly improving business processes and profitability as a result. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is the latest catalyst to process automation.

Key components of IIoT include:

• Number of sensors to monitor processes is exploding;
• Connected devices transport data at higher speeds;
• Cloud networks make data storage and availability scalable; and
• Analytics extract information myriad of sources.

These four IIoT elements touch every aspect of an enterprise’s production or manufacturing environment and require the two organizations responsible for implementing and operating IIoT information and business systems—Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT)—to adopt new strategies.

One strategy is IT/OT convergence, which promotes a single view of an enterprise’s information. Process-management tools help ensure that every person, machine, sensor, switch and device in an organization has accurate information in the best form and at the right time. As OT products—for example, programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and remote terminal units (RTUs)—become more aligned with IT infrastructure and applications, getting OT information integrated efficiently with IT systems at a process level is difficult enough for many companies. Getting IT and OT systems to work together to maximize business efficiency — while avoiding negative consequences, risks and pitfalls in the process —makes the task more challenging.

However, thanks to new technologies, this process is becoming more practical and is creating the opportunities for huge economic benefits when these two disciplines are successfully integrated.