When IT and OT Systems Meet

Today, networking technologies and sensors enable organizations to collect data from virtually everything: medical and mobile devices, appliances, cameras, wearables and vehicles, which can be assembled in an array of combinations to create smart homes, buildings and even cities. 

But leveraging data from IP-enabled IoT devices is just part of digital transformation, says Link Simpson, IoT practice lead for CDW. At its core, he says, IoT is the convergence of IT and operational technology (OT). Data from these systems can be combined with and analyzed by IT systems to yield benefits such as remote monitoring, automation, streamlined processes and operational insights. 

Among OT systems, organizations are leveraging data created by new sensors coming online. But smart organizations also use data from legacy systems such as supervisory control and data acquisition networks, programmable logic controllers and distributed control systems (in manufacturing environments, for example). In addition, they employ building management system components such as heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, power, lighting, elevators and security systems. 

“This isn’t a rip-and-replace,” says Simpson. “We need to tie in all these existing systems that required significant investment and still have a long life.”

Many of these are stand-alone systems, says Simpson, so they first need to be connected to an IP network so they can sense each other, and then converted to a common protocol so they can communicate. IT and OT teams work together with service providers to connect stand-alone systems and merge operational networks with the enterprise network. This not only connects these systems through a single network, but it also enables stakeholders to leverage data from enterprise resource planning, customer relationship and other critical applications.

IoT? It’s Complicated

Connecting multiple systems in an IoT deployment is a complicated undertaking, requiring systems integration, network convergence, a robust wireless deployment and increased storage capacity, as well as expanded cybersecurity efforts. To manage these complexities and the cultural differences between IT and OT teams, many organizations turn to professional service providers with significant IoT expertise.   

Despite the attention IoT has received, most organizations are still planning or in the early stages of implementation for their projects. Experts suggest that organizations start with projects that have simple use cases, primarily internal, that they can then build on. 

In a 2016 Gartner survey of U.S. organizations planning or engaged in internal IoT projects, 81 percent said their focus through 2018 would be on optimizing operations in areas such as workflow, supply chain and inventory management. For organizations planning or starting external IoT initiatives, 72 percent expected to concentrate efforts through 2018 on smart connected products that allow their enterprise systems to receive data from customers. 

Streamline, Automate, Optimize 

Despite its complexities, IoT holds great promise for organizations that develop a smart strategy. With networked sensors configured for specific use cases and generating data for analysis, they can identify areas ripe for operational efficiencies, new sales channels and premium product tiers.  

Enabling remote monitoring: With the ability to put smart sensors on or in just about anything (including people), IT and OT staff can remotely monitor resources and take action based on the data. For example, healthcare providers can remotely monitor devices such as insulin pumps or subcutaneous vital sign sensors; companies with field service teams can monitor the safety of workers involved in high-risk activities; and oil and propane providers can check tank status remotely, drastically reducing costs by avoiding unnecessary travel.   

Gaining insight: By capturing new data generated by IoT systems, organizations can apply analytics and turn this information into actionable insight. It’s the combination of analytics with IoT innovation that delivers on digital transformation investments, says Simpson.  

Not everyone wants to build their own analytics solutions. CDW advises customers to deploy best-of-breed, industry-specific analytics tools, so they don’t have to start from scratch. “With solutions designed for retail or manufacturing, they get 80 percent of the functionality they need off the shelf, and we can configure them to deliver the rest,” he says. 

Streamlining processes: Every organization has its own business processes and workflows and is continuously working to optimize them, says Brad Shimmin, service director at Current Analysis. To accomplish this, they instrument these processes. A sensor that records a person entering a store, for example, generates data that a retailer can use to improve its efforts at sales, advertising and customer service.  

To that end, IoT data aids optimization by filling in the gaps in existing processes, where some aspect couldn’t be instrumented. “IoT isn’t new — it’s what we’ve been doing, but a lot better, because we have a more complete picture,” Shimmin says. “You can see data in real time, and make decisions closer to the point of inflection.”

Automating operations: Automation is a popular IoT use case throughout a variety of industries, from smart building systems to retail stores to shop floors. 

Smart elevators, in some cases integrated with calendaring systems, automatically adapt to a building’s events and employee schedules for more efficient transportation and energy savings. On shop floors, smart sensors predict equipment failure and send alerts that trigger automated break/fix responses. Automation in supply chains can optimize shipment logistics and inventory management.  

Identifying automation opportunities and taking action, however, requires that organizations be skilled at building predictive models and analyzing complex datasets, or that they hire outside contractors for guidance.