The power of edge computing for IT-OT integration

Industries like manufacturing, energy, and utilities heavily rely on data pipelines to manage their mission-critical business operations. They often struggle to manage and analyze their OT data efficiently due to its fragmented, unstructured nature, making timely decision-making difficult.

Integrating operational technology (OT) with information technology (IT) is increasingly crucial to meet demands for faster results, higher quality, and greater resilience.

In its Reference Architecture for Integrating OT and Modern IT, Gartner Research presents a blueprint for the new industrial IT/OT Architecture. The outlined reference architecture suggests a specific solution framework aimed at enhancing industrial organizations' capabilities in securing, sharing, and analyzing their OT data. The architecture integrates cloud with industrial edge.

Edge computing facilitates the integration of IT and OT in industrial environments. By decentralizing computing tasks closer to data sources and processing data locally, it significantly reduces latency, enabling real-time interaction between IT and OT systems. This reduction in latency is critical for ensuring seamless communication and synchronization between the various components of industrial operations, such as sensors, actuators, and control systems.

As stated by Gartner Research, industrial IoT gateways and secure orchestration platforms play essential roles in harnessing the benefits of edge computing and combining IT with OT. IoT-enablement platforms especially facilitate the IT-OT integration at scale by orchestrating siloed data sources to enhance insights and actions across various assets. 

IIoT gateways effectively communicate with orchestration platforms by utilizing event protocols like MQTT, management protocols for digital twin updates, and control protocols for deploying containerized applications from the cloud to the edge. Moreover, by bringing computation closer to the data source, gateways offer low latency and bandwidth usage, boosting the responsiveness and efficiency of industrial systems.

Orchestration platforms complement Industrial IoT gateways by providing centralized management of edge computing resources. These platforms enable users to securely deploy, configure, monitor, and manage thousands of dispersed edge devices and applications from a single interface. This unified approach to data handling enables cross-domain insights and data-driven decision-making.

The CTHINGS.CO Orchestra combines a Zero Trust architecture with intuitive device provisioning and robust data management capabilities. It allows users to quickly onboard new devices, reducing the complexity of integrating new assets, and speeding up the process of integrating IT and OT environments. Moreover, with safe and controlled access to devices and data across the industrial ecosystem, it minimizes risks associated with unauthorized access or data breaches. 

Orchestra equips organizations with the tools needed to navigate the complexities of edge computing while upholding the highest standards of security and operational excellence.

Learn more about our innovative platform, here.