Industry 4.0 And IT/OT Convergence: Crossing The Digital Lines To Success – Forbes

If you've been around Industry 4.0 for a while, or even read about it, you know it embraces new technologies like IIoT, cloud computing, edge computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning and a whole lot more. People have defined Industry 4.0 in terms of orchestration and optimization, physical and digital, and manufacturing and supply chain. But most of these definitions are so complicated that Industry 4.0 itself is not all that well-defined.

My simple definition for Industry 4.0 is that it uses digital technology to solve business problems. But maybe that's a little too simple. So how about this? Industry 4.0 uses digital technology to transform the business for the future, creating new and better ways of doing business.

The best part of this definition is that it's open-ended. The new and better ways of doing business could be just about anything. New capabilities. New processes. Reducing costs. Empowering teams. Improving decision-making. Creating new and better ways of serving customers. Identifying new things that haven't been thought about yet. It's all Industry 4.0!

Another topic that's being mentioned alongside Industry 4.0 regularly is IT/OT convergence. IT (information technology) and OT (operations technology) have both been around for a while. Both trace their lineage back to the space program of the '50s, '60s and '70s.

IT and OT have traditionally been at opposite ends of the technology spectrum. IT has been all about big computers, big databases and processing lots of transactions. In manufacturing, think of the computers used to process sales orders.

OT has been about small and fast computers, operating in real time to control machines and equipment. Think of the computers on the manufacturing lines that run the equipment.

For the longest time, all we've been technically able to do is connect IT and OT systems together. It started in the early '90s with simple connectivity and data exchanges between ERP systems (IT) and automation and control systems (OT). Since then, these ideas of connectivity and data exchange have been the be-all and end-all of IT and OT convergence.

Interestingly enough, as technology has improved, the two ends of the spectrum are converging. The lines between IT and OT are no longer distinct, and, perhaps more importantly, no longer even matter.

Networks: Both IT and OT systems use similar networks with the same types of switches, routers, hubs, wireless access points, firewalls and such.

Computers: Whether you use end-user devices, servers, displays, personal computers, mobile devices or something else, they're pretty much the same for both IT and OT. Only some specialty computers, like programmable logic computers (PLCs) and distributed control systems (DCSs), are unique to the OT world.

Identification: Whether you use barcodes, radio-frequency identification (RFID), magnetic stripes or other tracking devices, it's completely ubiquitous for both IT and OT, with the same technologies common to both.

Mobile devices: For tablets, pads or smartphones, the technology is the same for both worlds.

Software: For operating systems, virtual machine (VM) software, database software and such, it's also the same.

But beyond this underlying technology, which in many cases already has converged, the good news is that the landscape from a user's perspective is also converging. New infrastructures, new platforms, new standards and new plug-and-play options are all coming together that are completely transforming (and eliminating) the differences between IT and OT technologies.

Roles: Solutions are based on roles in the organization. Many roles cross between the traditional boundaries of IT and OT, making the distinctions obsolete and requiring solutions to provide the capabilities needed for the role regardless of artificial IT and OT boundaries.

Apps:Apps that perform specific functions, which can be run anytime, anywhere, by anybody, also make the distinctions between IT and OT obsolete. They perform the required function regardless of traditional IT and OT boundaries.

Machines:In manufacturing, machines still exist because we still have to make stuff. Most machines, however, are now smart and have their own networking and databases. They generate more useful data than many IT systems of just a few years ago, again blurring the distinctions between IT and OT.

Workflow: One of the biggest weaknesses in the old-school connectivity-and-data-exchange world of IT and OT was that many business processes and workflows cut across both worlds, but workflows and processes can now be implemented as they should be for the business, and completely ignore all the old-school boundaries between IT and OT.

This is all great stuff. IT and OT really are converging to the point where distinctions between IT and OT technologies are all but gone. But, before wrapping this up, why are we doing all this? What is the business value behind IT and OT convergence?

Improved customer experience: For most companies, it's a lot more than just providing good products. It's about delivering an excellent customer experience, and that may mean offering services and data with the products, changing the way the company interacts with the customer to provide higher levels of customer service, and ultimately using the complete capabilities of the company to help customers solve their toughest business problems.

Improved business operations: Increase business velocity, agility and flexibility, leverage new technology to free up people's time, use new technology to eliminate repetitive tasks, increase productivity, reduce costs, expand employees' skill sets and ultimately create new and better ways of doing business.

So, whether you call it Industry 4.0, smart manufacturing or digital transformation, or whether you consider IIoT, cloud computing, edge computing, AI, machine learning and now IT/OT convergence, the goal is still the same: Digitally transform the business for the future and create new and better ways of doing business.

The good news is that's what Industry 4.0 and IT/OT convergence is already doing. You just need to find ways to make it happen faster.

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Industry 4.0 And IT/OT Convergence: Crossing The Digital Lines To Success - Forbes