In the midst of global events that have shaped the way entire nations do business, the manufacturing sector remains important to the economies of developing countries and the advanced world. In the manufacturing industry there exists a complex ecosystem of interconnected devices that present valuable new opportunities waiting to be tapped.
According to a white paper from BT, 90% of manufacturing machinery and devices are unconnected. The convergence of Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) is expected to deliver massive changes in productivity if implemented correctly.
Traditionally, IT and OT have been managed separately. IT deals with computing technologies necessary for information processing i.e. storage, transmission, recovery or protection of data. OT refers to the devices and software necessary to support the manufacturing process and monitor factory and equipment. As these two domains converge into one landscape, it is expected that the change would encounter several challenges in order to achieve a smooth implementation.
One of the main challenges of moving to edge computing is future-proofing the network infrastructure. In the manufacturing industry, legacy systems still loom over operations due to manufacturers’ reluctance to move to more advanced technology. Legacy systems, as the term implies, refer to old methods, technologies or application programs that are classified as outdated. They may be cumbersome and costly to maintain, but the real impact is on the inability of the business to capture data in real time. The outdated technology hinders many legacy networks of manufacturers from being able to participate in the digital transformation era, including the convergence of their IT and OT systems.
Among the solutions to consider according to BT are first, the optimization of networks, for instance, the LAN needs to be able to collect data from multiple sources to support Industry 4.0 applications, such as plant and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Second, solutions must be vendor-agnostic to provide businesses with the flexibility and choice to use different hyperscalers for different applications. Third, a full Intent-Based Networking implementation that will help to plan, design and implement/operate networks can improve network availability and agility.
Another challenge often encountered by businesses relating to IT and OT convergence is cyber security. With Australia recently experiencing an increase in the number of cyber attacks and the government announcing its largest ever investment in cyber security and intelligence, it comes as no surprise that businesses are hesitant to make changes to their systems.
But by employing good housekeeping and advanced threat analytics, manufacturers can take advantage of the benefits of a converged IT and OT environment while at the same time protecting their data and processes. BT advises the micro-segmentation of the network so that the impact of cyber attacks is limited to specific areas, as well as the usage of visual analytic tools to spot data patterns and identify the “outliers”.
A third challenge is the on-boarding, scaling, and security of the millions of devices automatically. One way of addressing this is through Zero-Touch Orchestration (ZTO). ZTO provides the capability to securely and automatically on-board, establish and manage devices. This is crucial when businesses have multiple parties in the supply chain, and consistent end-to-end security policies need to be applied.
BT believes that finding the right AI application is just the start of the process. To successfully reap the rewards manufacturers need to make sure that their ‘Edge’ is digitally ready, and that they can properly secure their business as IT and OT converge.
The full white paper is available for download on the BT Global Service website.
