One of the most powerful promises of Industry 4.0 technology is that the technology itself is no longer a barrier between IT and OT teams. There is a major barrier, though – the people who operate today’s OT & IT infrastructure are often paralyzed by the fear of the unknown and layers of historical confusion.

In this talk, our speakers share examples of why IT and OT don’t always align. They identify the key areas as cultural, organizational, change management, and technology. Watch the full episode to understand more about the internal and external factors impacting IT and OT convergence.

Top 5 Takeaways

1. Organizationally speaking, the IT and OT teams have different priorities coming from different leaders. Most IT teams will report to the CIO, where they operate at a corporate level with an emphasis on the financial and logical systems. While OT teams often report to the COO and are responsible for plant operations such as machine uptime.
2. IT and OT teams take direction from different parts of the organization and as a result, they are measured and incentivized for goals that are not always the same.
3. The technology is different. Things like asset lifespan (3 years vs 30 years) and the levels of technological training (no code/low code vs skills gap crisis) are just two areas that can further the divide between IT and OT.
4. The data is also different. The way it’s collected, stored, and actioned varies greatly between IT and OT functions.
5. Both IT and OT want the same thing – end customers that are satisfied. If you take a step back and remember that goal, we can find common ground for the teams to get started.

At CESMII, we look forward to continuing the IT and OT convergence conversation. It’s imperative that leaders embrace Smart Manufacturing concepts to deliver solutions that enable their stakeholders to manage manufacturing supply chains around value streams and business functions seamlessly across the legacy OT and IT boundaries.