Industrial Internet of Things: Changing the IT/OT Dynamic

As manufacturers better understand how a connected world can enable smarter decision-making and positively change the way they do business, their interest in using intelligent devices to enhance production efficiency has been increasing dramatically.

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AW 87813功能文章的图像工业互联网改变了它的动态

As interest in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) gains greater traction across industries, engineers are realizing that it’s very possible—and not all that complicated—to monitor production parameters and detect deviation from required quality standards; predict future events and trends; continuously optimize product quality; and reduce overall production time. This ability to control every step in the product lifecycle will enable new business opportunities and significantly change the concept of manufacturing through instant access to real-time process information and feedback.

To achieve this, however, companies’ information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) departments will need to change how they work together. Here are the three main areas that need to be addressed to bring IT and OT together:

Securing the Network

With a connected world comes increased vulnerabilities and risks. One compromised system in a network of devices can act as a catalyst for widespread infection, ultimately threatening an entire company’s infrastructure. IT and OT need to work together to maintain network availability, confidentiality, and integrity. They can also work together to implement processes that prevent both deliberate attacks and unintentional errors.

Recommended security measures include use of:

  • Encryption to ensure data confidentiality and prevent unauthorized data interception when running on public networks;
  • Access control to ensure that only devices allowed to communicate with one another can do so, and to prevent unauthorized access to the network during operation;
  • Authentication to block devices and users without explicit access to the network; and
  • 区域将关键部分与系统的非关键部分分开,并避免网络感染的传播。

作为一个团队工作

Different departments have different priorities. OT professionals typically focus on keeping production running to avoid the costs of downtime, while IT workers hone in on protecting data integrity.

Despite these distinct roles, it’s important to look at manufacturing holistically and combine forces to create an open dialogue between departments. Finding ways for both departments to work together will help businesses take advantage of their combined strengths and meet business goals.

Aligning Network Infrastructure

All devices that can be part of an IIoT initiative need a powerful network connection. This creates a huge demand for consistent and unified communication over an Ethernet network.

The network containing these devices should be hierarchical to simplify network management and operation. At the field level, communication areas should be divided into effectively manageable units, such as machine, production, and any other logical or physical unit.

在任何IIOT计划中,生成和收集的数据的量都将比以往任何时候都大得多,这对IT和OT专业人员引入了挑战。两个团队都将被要求一起工作以简单,成本效益的方式连接设备,同时还满足特定应用程序的苛刻性能和可靠性要求。

要获得有关IIOT含义的更多了解,请阅读我们最近的白皮书:Communication for the Industrial Internet of Things.

通过参加2015年10月19日至22日在伊利诺伊州Schaumburg举行的Belden工业以太网基础设施设计研讨会,了解有关IT和OT如何共同利用IIOT的更多信息。有关更多信息或注册,请访问www.belden.com/designseminar.

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