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technology (OT) – definitions and differences with IT

Operational technology (OT) – definitions and

differences with IT
What is operational technology (OT) and how is it different from IT and
at the same time converging with information technology?

It’s impossible to talk about the evolutions in manufacturing,

industrial transformation and Industry 4.0, innovations in
areas such as Industrial IoT without mentioning the
convergence of IT and OT.

While everyone has a good grasp of what IT is, for people who don’t
have an OT background might wonder what OT or operational
technology really means. Operational technology or OT is a category
of computing and communication systems to manage, monitor and
control industrial operations with a focus on the physical devices and
processes they use.

Operational technology, monitors and manages industrial process

assets and manufacturing/industrial equipment. OT exists much
longer than IT or information technology, more specifically since we
started to use machinery and equipment powered by electricity in
factories, buildings, transportation systems, the utility industry, etc.
The term, however, is more recent. Essentially, OT is the hardware
and software that keeps things, for instance factories, power plants,
facility equipment etc. running.

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Operational technology versus information technology – source

Operational technology – definition,

origins and evolution
While operational technology is about control and safety
systems and industrial process assets, IT or information
technology is about business and enterprise systems that
store, process and deliver information.

The most often used definition of operational technology comes from

Gartner: “Hardware and software that detects or causes a change
through the direct monitoring and/or control of physical devices,
processes and events in the enterprise”.

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The definition from Gartner is more for IT people and that’s probably
why it’s so popular. There are several other definitions of OT whereby
some limit themselves to the lowest levels of the traditional
automation pyramid (field level, control level, production level,…)
while others go higher.

OT has also been defined as technology that interfaces with the

physical world and includes Industrial Control Systems (ICS), which in
turn includes Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and
Distributed Control Systems (DCS).

Operational technology is everywhere around us: you find it in

industrial operations in the smart factory, transportation, oil & gas,
mining, in the utility industry (electricity, water….) and in facilities
such as office buildings and healthcare facilities to give some
examples. OT might be invisible for most; without it the economy and
modern way of life wouldn’t be possible.

Originally, OT was mainly a mechanical given. Yet, just like IT, OT

evolved through time. In many fields where OT plays an important
role, proprietary protocols started to be used and today often still are
used. In applications such as building management, communication
protocols next started to be used over IP.

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An important evolution in OT was the ability to monitor and control

physical devices remotely. The injection of IT-based technologies such
as big data and machine learning in OT, along with the evolutions in
machine-to-machine (M2M) communication and the Internet of Things
(sensors), enabled ample innovations with regards to the
management of physical devices in industrial processes, among others
in diagnostics and maintenance (remote diagnostics, predictive
maintenance) and other use cases we know from Industrial IoT.

Whereas operational technology elements once were not

connected, today you must look hard to find some that aren’t.
Connections and digital technologies are in ever more assets
and control devices and systems.

It’s an ongoing trend that will make that in the end we’ll stop talking
about operational technology, let alone the differences between IT
and OT. The people in operational technology will know about IT in
the same way IT people will now about operational technology.
Everything digital and connected, with the benefits…and the risks.

Operational technology challenges as the

borders with IT blur
IT and OT networks typically were and often still are separated
from each other. IT was always the domain of the CIO with a
rather strict difference between IT and OT networks but also
between the people working in these respective areas. They
have different profiles, different types of systems to work with
and different tasks/priorities.

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Operational technology in context – relationship with IT- source

Several years ago, the lines between IT and OT gradually started to

blur and the convergence of operational technology and IT is still
ongoing. This convergence is not just about technologies but also
about the teams and ways of working. With the mentioned IT-based
technologies becoming integrated with OT networks and the whole
Industry 4.0 and industrial transformation phenomenon, the
responsibility over OT is also evolving.

Operational technology is increasingly mentioned from a cybersecurity

perspective in these times of industrial transformation. With industrial
infrastructures becoming more complex and the ongoing digitization,
additional attention is required for OT security. There are also
important differences between IT and OT security (without the cyber
part). The latter traditionally was more about protecting physical
processes, safety, uptime/production/efficiency and protection of
people while IT security is more oriented on protecting all aspects of
data and how information is stored, transmitted, processed and used
in business processes.

With the mentioned convergence, these different priorities and

resulting approaches regarding security, often prove to be a challenge
now that all these aspects become key. It’s not unusual that there are
conflicts between IT and OT when there are computing priorities.

Examples of operational technology, depending on the definition,

include the previously mentioned Industrial Control Systems (ICS),
key from a security perspective since they are mission-critical. This OT
segment is really an umbrella term for various systems to monitor and
control industrial processes across a broad range of applications
where availability and uptime are key.

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Control systems include SCADA systems (Supervisory Control and

Data Acquisition), DCS (Distributed Control System) and
Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs). RTUs (Remote Terminal
Units), Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI), embedded systems and
computing technologies, machinery, physical equipment in plants and
Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) also are operational technologies,
as are most connected assets in industrial markets.

PLM Systems, MES applications, Safety Automation Systems, Building

Management Systems etc. are often categorized as operational
technology too. Operational technology field devices include valves,
transmitters, switches and actuators.

More technologies and various types of devices and systems used in

operational technology, as well as the usage of operational technology
as such, depend on the industry and types of industrial processes.

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