Andreas Bergbauer, Manager Solution Management at congatec, explains the latest technological developments designed to deliver secure and reliable IT/OT convergence
IT/OT convergence is crucial to a company’s success in the age of digitalisation. Industry 4.0 and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) rely on the seamless transfer of machine and system data, ideally with minimal latency to maintain an up-to-date digital twin. Benefiting from predictive maintenance and data-driven production insights necessitates a feedback channel on the same hardware platform. Indeed, IT/OT convergence is a fundamental requirement for new, usage-based business models, which depend on the real-time availability of all operating data for optimal efficiency.
Cybersecurity becomes a key concern as IT/OT systems become more interconnected. Increased connectivity raises the potential for a cyber attack on both the information technology and the operational technology. The EU’s Cyber Resilience Act and the associated IEC 62443 series of standards have been introduced to address these cybersecurity concerns. From 2027, OEMs of systems, devices, and machines must offer compliant products on the EU market. The goal is to minimise potential threats and risks from cyber attacks by ensuring secure software updates.
Working in isolation
Achieving cybersecurity compliance does not necessarily require a separate system. IT/OT systems can be consolidated using a hypervisor, such as an ‘IIoT gateway’, implemented on the same multi-core module. All that’s required is a separate instance that operates in an isolated environment, and not under the same operating system as the HMI or the control system. This environment then acts as a security island, separating data and applications from each other. This approach not only reduces hardware costs but also increases flexibility and reliability.
However, implementing the necessary software for this solution is quite complex. It is closely linked with the embedded platform, which makes it almost impossible to develop a hypervisor for system consolidation in-house. This is where the expertise of an embedded partner becomes critical for success.
Working in partnership
Working in partnership with an embedded partner solves multiple issues. For example, many companies lack the internal resources to develop functional IT/OT convergence software. Off-the-shelf software solutions often don’t meet the specific functionality requirements of individual applications. An external expert has the knowledge and resources to overcome these problems. They can also ensure that the hardware data of the embedded system, on which the entire operation relies, is properly formatted.
Machine data used by the IIoT software must be standardised in terms of format, transmission protocol, and units. For example, if IT expects temperature data in Fahrenheit but receives it in Kelvin or Celsius, this could be catastrophic. As NASA learned from the Mars Orbiter fiasco, you don’t want measurements inputted in imperial when they should be in metric! Fundamental errors like this can be avoided by working with an embedded manufacturer with intimate knowledge of their hardware who can provide compatible monitoring software.
Software optimisation
Monitoring software should offer the following capabilities:
- Remote monitoring of essential hardware details such as module identification, health, specifications, and sensor data
- Integration with standard communication interfaces like I2C, GPIOs, and Ethernet
- Comprehensive monitoring and secure access to embedded systems, encompassing security protocols, sensor and actuator integration, control logic, lifecycle management, and historical data
- Connectivity to common Cloud services like Azure and AWS, with options for establishing or integrating private on-premises clouds to protect critical business data.
At its most advanced, the software should also grant secure, real-time control over machines through edge devices, complete with remote management capabilities.
In other words, customers gain a resilient, reliable, and secure IIoT connection, providing real-time visibility of all types of data from devices and connected sensors. They benefit from reliable data processing, secure and encrypted connection with authorised access, real-time machine operation capabilities, and optimised maintenance costs with little to no on-site service for routine work and updates. Predictive maintenance, with or without AI enhancement, provides further opportunities to reduce machine downtime compared to fixed maintenance intervals.
Final word
Successful implementation of convergence requires dedicated connectors for seamless IT/OT integration. These IT/OT connectors can be efficiently consolidated within existing OT systems, which offers significant flexibility for securely implementing innovative tasks in the future. aReady.VT and aReady.IOT technologies from congatec provide the perfect building blocks for out-of-the box IT/OT convergence.
Andreas Bergbauer is Manager Solution Management at congatec. He has over 15 years of professional experience in product management, IT project management, and software development. With his expertise in product strategy and technological innovation management, he is now involved in developing application-ready solution platforms in embedded computing.
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