IT, operational technology converging, says Gartner

By eGov Innovation Editors | Mar 31, 2011

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CONNECTICUT — The worlds of IT and operational technology (OT) are converging, and IT leaders must manage their transition to converging, aligning and integrating IT and OT environments, according to analyst firm Gartner Inc.

Analysts say the benefits that come from managing IT and OT convergence, alignment and integration include optimized business processes, enhanced information for better decisions, reduced costs, lower risks and shortened project timelines.

An independent world of physical-equipment-oriented technology is developed, implemented and supported separately from the IT groups. For simplicity, Gartner refers to physical-equipment-oriented technology as "operational technology" (OT).

"The relationship between the IT and OT groups needs to be managed better, but more importantly, the nature of the OT systems is changing, so that the underlying technology — such as platforms, software, security and communications — is becoming more like IT systems," said Kristian Steenstrup, research vice president and Gartner fellow.

"This gives a stronger justification for IT groups to contribute to OT software management, creating an IT and OT alignment that could be in the form of standards, enterprise architecture (EA), support and security models, software configuration practices, and information and process integration," Steenstrup added.

IT and OT are converging in numerous important industries, such as healthcare, transportation, defense, energy, aviation, manufacturing, engineering, mining, oil and gas, natural resources, and utilities. 

"A shared set of standards and platforms across IT and OT will reduce costs in many areas of software management, and reduced risks come from reducing malware intrusion and internal errors," Steenstrup said. "Cyber security can be enhanced if IT security teams are shared, seconded or combined with OT staff to plan and implement holistic IT-OT security. 'Security through obscurity' was an acceptable policy with most older-generation OT platforms because of their proprietary architectures and limited connection to IT. It is no longer possible to rely on this maxim, because OT platforms have evolved to use commercial generic infrastructures."