The IT/OT Tug-of-War
IT/OT convergence in building management often creates tension and the cause is a dusty server used to provide control and management of building systems. It’s connected to the network but outside of IT’s understanding, and therefore, it is daunting for IT departments to manage, and so they go untouched or ignored. For many organizations, the question of who manages this server and its network connection is a source of friction. At the heart of this issue is a fundamental mismatch in expertise and priorities.
Understanding IT and OT
Information technology (IT) typically manages business-critical computer and electronic systems like email, customer relationship management (CRM) software, financial systems, and general office networks, focusing on data flow, security, and business continuity.
Operational technology (OT), in the context of facility management, refers to hardware and software that encompasses the building automation system (BAS) and the facility teams that manage it in order to control physical assets such as HVAC systems, lighting, access control, and other environmental systems. The job of OT is to ensure building functionality and occupant comfort. Increasingly, they ensure labs, data centers, and specialized manufacturing areas are kept the proper temperature with no room for error.
How We Got Here: A Brief History of IT/OT Convergence in Building Management
For a long time, building controls were largely mechanical systems, relying on analog signals and dedicated hardware.
In the early 2000s BAS manufacturers started using web interfaces, commercial-off-the-shelf servers, and Ethernet networks. These systems replaced proprietary control systems and buildings became smarter, offering more granular control and data insights.
Concurrently, IT departments were rapidly moving into the mainstream of business operations. Processes that were once paper-centric became database and application-centric. Business functions, from finance to human resources, became reliant on digital systems.
The app culture explosion in 2010 pushed many more processes and systems online. This seismic shift forced businesses to make significant investments in their IT departments, infrastructure, and, crucially, cybersecurity protection. The growing sophistication of cyber threats meant that IT’s mandate expanded to encompass virtually all connected devices and systems within an organization.
This trajectory set the stage for the current IT/OT overlap. IT, with its broad mandate, wants to manage all technology resources to better protect network data and maintain a unified security posture. However, the BAS relies on servers for access and control and these systems demand specific configurations and require knowledge that falls outside the typical IT skill set.
This specialization can make IT departments hesitant to fully embrace the support and management of OT servers.
Move OT Workloads to the Private Cloud
Organizations resolve the IT-OT conundrum by moving OT workloads to a private cloud managed service. Migrating BAS server functions to a private cloud platform offers a compelling solution with benefits for both IT and OT:
- Gives OT the resources it needs: Private cloud platforms provide on-demand scalability and access to robust computing resources, ensuring that facility teams have the processing power and storage they need for their specialized BAS applications without the burden of maintaining physical servers. This allows OT to focus on optimizing building performance, not server maintenance.
- Removes management burden from IT: By offloading BAS server management to a private cloud managed service, IT departments are freed from supporting specialized hardware and software they may not be familiar with. This allows IT to concentrate on their core responsibilities: managing enterprise-wide IT infrastructure, data security, and strategic IT initiatives. The private cloud provider assumes the responsibility for server maintenance, patching, and underlying infrastructure.
- Improves Cybersecurity: Private cloud providers invest heavily in cybersecurity, offering sophisticated security measures, continuous monitoring, and compliance certifications. This significantly enhances the security posture of BAS, reducing the attack surface and protecting critical building operations from cyber threats in alignment with IT’s overall security objectives.
Conclusion
The overlap between IT and OT in managing BAS is a real and growing challenge for many companies. While IT seeks to secure all network resources, the specialized nature of BAS creates a roadblock.
By embracing private cloud managed services for OT workloads, organizations can empower their facility teams with the resources they need, alleviate the management burden on IT, and dramatically improve the cybersecurity of their critical building infrastructure.
