In 2025, IT and OT teams in many organizations continue to work independently of one another. But there is a paradigm shift happening. The two, as they have been for years, continue to overlap. This convergence has become, as the title of this blog suggests, the foundation of the digital transition of OT.
And that’s a positive thing. Why? It yields valuable organizational gains especially around efficiency and OT security.
Driving the IT/OT Convergence
Technological advancement drives the convergence of IT and OT. Truth be told, IT has much more experience with “convergence” than OT. As technology evolves, IT has had to change how it functions.
OT is very set in its ways. If you’ve heard the adage, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it,” then you already understand OT’s position. As long as operations continue to function, there’s no need to make changes. Changes equal downtime, and OT does not like downtime.
However, the IT/OT convergence is not just about the academic side of melding IT and OT. It’s also about bringing the physical into the digital. Many new, or relatively new devices, are on the market that make machine-to-machine communication possible. When those are installed on OT assets, you suddenly have new data and information available that can be used to make better decisions. With the right tool, you can turn this new data and information into gains for the enterprise.
Those gains can include:
Enhanced OT security: When IT and OT collaborate, a unified approach to OT security can be taken. It starts with a comprehensive OT asset inventory that allows both teams to see all networked OT devices and definitively determine their attack surface’s vulnerabilities.
Minimized Downtime with Predictive Maintenance: Understanding the OT environment helps address potential issues before they cause disruptions. That’s a basic definition of OT obsolescence management. Knowing, for instance, the lifecycle stage of devices helps with maintenance/repairs and replacement strategies. The approach keeps operations running smoothly and prevents costly downtime.
Optimized Resource Utilization: IT and OT teams can pool their resources and expertise instead of working independently. This makes organizations more cost—and resource-efficient, which is good news for management. It also translates to more value and productivity.
Policy Compliance: IT is accustomed to implementing policies to harden systems, which it could extend to OT. Hardening OT assets like Windows boxes would significantly enhance an organization’s OT security posture, especially regarding ransomware. Automated audits against these policies would quickly identify what is compliant and what is not. With that information, teams can make tangible progress in enhancing OT resilience.
Enhanced Productivity Through Automation: Automation helps IT and OT teams complete tasks more efficiently, increasing productivity. Again, consider automated audits. Without the right tool, audits are manual and can take weeks or months to complete. With automation, you can identify assets that are not compliant in seconds and start addressing them.
The Right Tool for the Right Job
None of the gains mentioned above are doable without the right tool. OTbase is IT/OT convergence enabled. What does that mean? OTbase is a single tool that combines all the necessary pieces for successful convergence.
OTbase provides IT and OT teams with a comprehensive OT asset inventory. That’s not all. For IT, OTbase provides a comprehensive OT network inventory. For OT, the same tool provides an equally comprehensive OT systems inventory.
Both teams can see and understand the complete picture of their OT environment. Without OTbase, the IT/OT convergence is just a buzzword on social media.