Over the past few weeks I have been discussing the concept of Operational Technology (OT) with various parties and felt that it is still a subject that needs better understanding. I have as a result written this short paper to explain what OT is. Please feel free to reach out if you would like to discuss this or any IoT/Digitisation matters.
Ask anyone what IT is and they would be able to explain however ask what OT is and most people even experts in the IT industry are challenged.
IT systems are used for data-centric computing; OT systems monitor events, processes and devices, and make adjustments in enterprise and industrial operations.
There was a time when OT & IT were considered separate domains, with each employing its own unique protection system. Today that gap is closing and operational technology & information technology functions have begun to converge mainly due to shared cyber security concerns.
Today, modern enterprise grapples with two worlds - the traditional physical world made up of machines, electromechanical devices, manufacturing systems & other industrial equipment, and the more recent digital world that uses servers, storage, networking and other devices used to run applications and process data.
The worlds of IT and OT are converging, and advances in technologies such as the internet of things (IoT) and big data analytics are systematically allowing the digital information world to see, understand and influence the physical operational world. When implemented properly, IT/OT convergence can merge business processes, insights and controls into a single uniform environment
So, what is OT?
Operational technology or OT is a category of computing and communication systems to manage, monitor and control industrial operations with a focus on the physical devices and processes they use. The control of real-world devices is as old as industry and manufacturing itself. The introduction of electronics and digital technologies over time also found plentiful uses in operational control systems, such as computerized numerical control machining systems.
Operational technology, monitors and manages industrial process assets and manufacturing/industrial equipment.
Where IT focused on data and communication, OT focused on behaviours and outcomes
OT has also been defined as technology that interfaces with the physical world and includes Industrial Control Systems (ICS), which in turn includes Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and Distributed Control Systems (DCS). Operational technology is everywhere around us: it is found in industrial operations in the smart factory, transportation, oil & gas, mining, in the utility industry (electricity, water….) and in facilities such as office buildings and healthcare facilities to give some examples.
Originally, OT was mainly a mechanical given, however like IT, OT evolved through time. In many fields where OT plays an important role, proprietary protocols started to be used and today often still are used. In applications such as building management, communication protocols next started to be used over IP. An important evolution in OT was the ability to monitor and control physical devices remotely. The injection of IT-based technologies such as big data and machine learning in OT, along with the evolutions in machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and the Internet of Things, enabled ample innovations with regards to the management of physical devices in industrial processes, among others in diagnostics and maintenance (remote diagnostics, predictive maintenance) and other use cases from Industrial IoT.
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