IT and OT integration promotes a consolidated view of information management within an enterprise, which is a key element for that high-performance environment where every stakeholder/user has the right information, in the right format, and at the right time in order to make the best possible decision, with the least amount of effort. Steenstrup tells us this in the article, IT and Operational Technology Alignment Innovation Key Initiative Overview, and I am a firm believer of it. The technology organization must be aligned as to give decision makers the power to make optimal decisions with the least amount of effort, technology should enable them to do so, and it should provide power and give access to knowledge efficiently.
However, as Steenstrup describes, that is simply the end goal, but there are many other benefits when your technology organization is aligned, and acts as one:
1- There will be cost reduction opportunities in terms of future integration projects, the procurement of software and the management of its life cycle, cost of software licensing, external and internal costs of software support, and more.
2- Risk will be reduced, less malware intrusion and fewer internal errors will result from a more cohesive technology organization. This emanates from the enhancements bestowed upon cyber security when IT security resources are shared with OT staff in order to implement holistic security measures, and in other areas such as version control, patching and upgrades, which should happen in coordinated fashion.
3- Lastly, there’s also the fact that when standards are communicated and shared, and there is a platform in place where said standards can be accessed, then organizations will reduce risk and shorten project timelines and hybrid projects, that require both IT and OT involvement, will meet far fewer obstacles. This can be achieved by having an agreed upon approach where a common set of standards and architecture plans are shared and utilized.
So, how ready is your organization to facilitate this integration between Informational Technology and Operational Technology? As Steenstrup explains, a few factors should be considered to determine this.
1- Does senior management understand what it means to evolve OT systems against the cost and risk of not managing them correctly?
2- You must be clear as to what OT is from your organization’s point of view, this way you can identify which groups in your organization manage, use, own or should own OT processes.
3- Assess opportunities to push for the alignment we have been discussing, like a major change in technology platforms.
This was definitely a valuable article for me and it gave me a lot to think about. It is an important topic and every enterprise strives to make this assimilation/integration happen in various ways, and I believe it is definitively a work in progress that is never quite completed.
References
Steenstrup, Kristian. IT and Operational Technology Alignment Innovation Key Initiative Overview. Gartner. July 22nd, 2011.
