•

Add remote utilities that provide the ability to assist in the needed
process or electrical resources.

• Perform a physical assessment of devices that do not respond to or

drop a ping scan (or any other standard scan). When using scanning
tools on a network with older running systems, make sure that they will
not cause any disruptions.

Best Practice: Create an inventory of all your assets

Significant effort must be devoted to identify and categorize a list of

equipment or assets that could be candidates for remote support that
can be updated over time. There are tools available to scan the devices on
networks, which can create a complete log of all assets. Contacting the OEM
machinery supplier will help to obtain guidance with respect to their assets.

2.4 Establish where you are with respect to the “maturity model”
for IT/OT relationship

Workgroup Assessment
The table below categorizes several interrelated areas that comprise the
manufacturing environment with respect to IT/OT relationships from Level
1 as a starting position to Level 4 of fully integrated.

In some cases, IT may have no interaction with what is happening on

the plant floor and/or may not exist at the facility. OT personnel may be
managing plant networks. In other cases, both IT and OT have a strong
presence at the facility.

Taking a review of each category’s level will help determine the company’s
progress or “maturity.” Very few if any companies are at level 4, however it is
important to try and reach as high a level as possible.

2021 I Practical Guide for Remote Access to Plant Equipment 15