There is a notion that IT and OT teams are like oil and water. The two, even when inhabiting the same space, remain separate. Many companies treat the two teams this way. In doing so, they are missing an extraordinary opportunity: IT/OT collaboration.
When thoughtful collaboration between IT and OT happens, operational excellence and resiliency result.
IT/OT Collaboration Common Ground
IT and OT are mutually dependent on one another. OT ensures operational continuity and efficiency. IT provides data security, analytics, and scalability. Even with having different priorities, there are areas where IT and OT overlap. Those include reducing downtime, enhancing security, and boosting productivity.
Those common areas of overlap present the first foundational opportunity for IT/OT collaboration. Leaning into their complementary strengths means they can benefit from one another. IT can benefit from OT’s operational insight. OT benefits from Its data management, cybersecurity, and scalability expertise.
Need for an OT Asset Inventory
While we’ve spoken about the academic side of IT/OT collaboration, putting it into practice is different. For that, you need a common workspace.
One of the barriers to IT/OT collaboration is the reality that IT can’t see OT environments. They don’t know what assets make up the environment or the networks involved. A comprehensive OT asset inventory provides both. Other IT use cases include running automatic audits against defined policy configurations.
Another use case for IT revolves around OT vulnerability management. An OT asset inventory worth its salt comes with the ability to expose actual vulnerabilities that impact the installed base. Why is this important to IT? One word: context. IT should never blindly mitigate OT vulnerabilities. An OT asset inventory allows IT to understand device criticality. Without it, IT could inadvertently take down a production line. That’s downtime, and OT does not like downtime.
Learn more about effective OT vulnerability management here.
OT has its use cases. Teams benefit from the OT asset inventory because they have a full OT systems inventory that allows for quick system modeling. They can check the product lifecycle for hundreds of popular OT products in seconds. Finding out if your critical OT assets are end of life or are approaching that stage allows engineers time to furnish a replacement strategy.
Strengthening the OT Security Posture
One of the strongest arguments for IT/OT collaboration is cybersecurity. New or newer OT products now make machine-to-machine communication possible. While that adds a new dimension to OT security, workstations have been online for years. Many of those workstations are Windows boxes, which are also susceptible, especially to ransomware.
Download OTbase Discovery for Windows for free.
Through collaboration, IT and OT teams tailor OT security strategies to meet the needs of their unique OT environment. IT’s cybersecurity expertise complements OT’s understanding of systems and guarding against downtime. Collaboration built on a comprehensive OT asset inventory takes teams from threat detection and false alerts to protection.
Data-Driven Decision Making
Now that machine-to-machine communication is becoming normalized, a tremendous amount of data is created. The handling of that data offers another opportunity for IT/OT collaboration.
IT has expertise in handling powerful analytical tools and data management. OT brings to that operational context. Collaboration between the two teams can translate into practical improvements on the production floor.
The Tool that Supports IT/OT Collaboration
Companies that lean into IT/OT collaboration reap the benefits of increased efficiency, productivity, security, and resiliency. OTbase is uniquely positioned to help companies achieve this level of collaboration.
As a productivity and collaboration tool, OTbase automatically inventories your OT systems. It helps IT and OT teams streamline, plan, and document your company’s digital transformation journey. OTbase turns complex tasks such as vulnerability management, auditing, and obsolescence management into structured workflows with measurable results.
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