The Difference Between IT and OT
What is IT/OT Convergence?
It’s the strategic integration of two historically separate worlds: the business systems that manage data (IT) and the industrial systems that control machines (OT). On one side, you have data centers, cloud platforms, and cybersecurity teams obsessed with information flow, digital access, and uptime metrics. On the other, you’ve got shop floors, control rooms, and engineers focused on safety, availability, and real-time operations. Convergence happens when these teams align not just their technology stacks, but their goals, priorities, and workflows—so that insights from machines can influence business decisions, and enterprise strategies can be executed on the plant floor. But here’s the truth: it's not about IT overtaking OT, or vice versa. It’s about building a bridge—where data flows both ways, where digital transformation actually delivers value, and where collaboration becomes a competitive advantage.
Let’s review the difference between the two worlds:
Focus
Information Technology (IT):
IT’s primary responsibility is the management, storage, analysis, and secure transmission of data. It underpins core business operations—finance, HR, sales, logistics—by ensuring that enterprise systems like ERP, CRM, and BI tools have the infrastructure and support they need to operate efficiently. IT teams architect and maintain networks, servers, cloud environments, and databases that facilitate communication and business transactions across the organization.
Operational Technology (OT):
OT focuses on managing and controlling physical equipment, machines, and industrial processes. The role of OT is to ensure that production runs smoothly, safely, and efficiently in real-time environments. This includes real-world control tasks like turning on pumps, regulating temperatures, or adjusting conveyor speeds. OT systems often require deterministic behavior—where exact timing and responses matter to ensure safety and performance.
Priority
Information Technology (IT):
In IT, the security triad (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability—CIA) begins with confidentiality. Protecting sensitive information from unauthorized access, breaches, or leaks is paramount. Whether it's personal employee data or trade secrets, any compromise in confidentiality is treated as a critical incident.
Operational Technology (OT):
In OT, the priority flips to availability. The system’s continuous operation is more important than confidentiality. A stopped machine can cost tens of thousands of dollars per hour. Even minor interruptions can lead to wasted materials, safety hazards, or failed regulatory compliance. Many OT environments deliberately delay or avoid patching if there's even a slight chance of causing downtime.
Lifecycle
Information Technology (IT):
IT components—whether hardware like servers or software like enterprise applications—are typically replaced or updated every 3–5 years. The fast pace of innovation, software updates, cybersecurity requirements, and depreciation schedules drive short refresh cycles.
Operational Technology (OT):
OT systems are engineered for longevity. It’s common to see PLCs or DCSs still running after 15–20 years. This is partly due to the cost of replacement, the validation burden (especially in regulated industries), and the fact that many of these systems are embedded deep within mission-critical infrastructure. "If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it" is often a survival mantra.
Devices
Information Technology (IT):
IT devices are designed primarily for general-purpose computing and are built with users and office environments in mind. These include laptops, desktops, tablets, smartphones, servers, wireless access points, and network infrastructure like routers and switches. They're mass-produced, easily replaceable, and often sourced through standard procurement channels with short lead times. Most of these devices run commercial operating systems (like Windows, macOS, or Linux), are upgraded frequently, and have short lifecycles (3–5 years) due to rapid technological obsolescence, performance upgrades, or evolving cybersecurity requirements.
IT devices are typically interchangeable and don’t require customization beyond standard configurations or software installations. They’re also largely reliant on connectivity to cloud-based or on-premise enterprise systems and are designed for users who can troubleshoot or submit support tickets if something fails. The key characteristics are standardization, volume procurement, and user-oriented design.
Operational Technology (OT):
OT devices, in contrast, are engineered for specific industrial functions and designed to operate in rugged, hazardous, or mission-critical environments. These include programmable logic controllers (PLCs), remote terminal units (RTUs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), industrial PCs, edge devices, sensors, actuators, and motor drives. Unlike IT devices, which are built for flexibility and user-friendliness, OT devices are built for reliability, determinism, and resilience.
Many OT devices must operate in extreme heat, humidity, vibration, electromagnetic interference, or even explosive environments—conditions that would destroy typical IT hardware. They often lack traditional user interfaces and instead use proprietary firmware or embedded real-time operating systems. Updates are rare and heavily tested due to the risk of disrupting physical processes. These devices are not just tools; they’re integral components of the control loop—meaning if one malfunctions, it can cause a safety issue, equipment damage, or production downtime.
Furthermore, OT devices are rarely plug-and-play. They require specialized configuration, calibration, and integration with control systems and field buses. Their communication often depends on protocols like Modbus, PROFIBUS, or EtherNet/IP rather than standard TCP/IP stacks, making cross-compatibility with IT systems a real challenge.
Data Types
Information Technology (IT):
IT data is the kind of information you’re used to seeing in spreadsheets, databases, emails, reports, documents, and dashboards. It’s the data that helps a business function—things like purchase orders, customer records, payroll files, and sales forecasts. Most of it falls into two big buckets: structured data (think rows and columns in a database) and unstructured data (like PDFs, emails, presentations, or even videos). IT systems process this data in batches, store it in enterprise systems like ERP or CRM, and analyze it to make business decisions.
A key trait of IT data? It doesn’t need to be real-time.
You don’t need millisecond accuracy to run payroll or build a financial report. The value is in the completeness, cleanliness, and accessibility of the data—not in how fast it’s changing. That’s why IT teams focus on storage, governance, integration, and analytics pipelines. They want data that can be trusted, queried, and secured at scale.
Operational Technology (OT):
OT data is all about what’s happening right now—on the machine, in the process, at the edge. We’re talking about real-time sensor values (temperature, pressure, RPMs), event triggers (valve open/close, machine start/stop), and time-series data that shows how a process is trending over seconds, minutes, or hours. It’s fast, frequent, and incredibly context-sensitive.
This data doesn’t live in SQL tables—it lives in historians, SCADA systems, edge gateways, or directly on embedded devices. And it’s not about storing it for pretty dashboards later (although that’s nice); it’s about acting on it immediately to keep production running safely and efficiently. If the data is late, wrong, or missing, alarms may be missed, product quality could suffer, or worse—someone could get hurt.
OT teams also deal with contextual complexity: raw sensor values don’t mean much unless you know what machine they came from, what product was being made, and what stage in the process it was. This is why industrial data often needs to be modeled with metadata, asset hierarchies, and process logic before it’s useful to IT teams.
Hardware
Information Technology (IT):
Includes equipment such as laptops, tablets, mobile devices, data center servers, network switches, firewalls, and wireless access points. IT hardware is usually installed in climate-controlled environments and has high variability based on the end-user function.
Operational Technology (OT):
Examples include PLCs, remote terminal units (RTUs), distributed control systems (DCS), SCADA RTUs, sensors, actuators, and edge controllers. These devices often need real-time I/O, industrial protocols (like Modbus, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET), and resistance to EMI or temperature extremes. Most don’t run full operating systems and often use proprietary firmware.
Applications
Information Technology (IT):
IT applications are built to support the business side of the organization—where deals are made, products are sold, people are paid, and reports are generated. These are your typical enterprise systems:
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): Manages financials, inventory, procurement, HR, etc.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management): Tracks leads, sales, and customer interactions.
SCM (Supply Chain Management): Plans and manages sourcing, logistics, and demand.
BI (Business Intelligence) Tools: Analyzes trends, performance, KPIs, and generates reports.
HRMS, CMS, BPM, etc.: Systems for hiring, content publishing, or automating business workflows.
Most of these applications are built for multi-user collaboration, are web-based or cloud-hosted, and revolve around structured workflows. They focus on optimizing business efficiency, decision-making, and data visibility. These apps are typically designed with user interfaces, dashboards, and audit trails—making them easy to train on, easy to govern, and easy to replace or upgrade on regular cycles.
Key traits? They’re transactional, they integrate well with cloud ecosystems, and they assume you’re working in a relatively clean and structured digital environment. And if one goes down for maintenance? Annoying, yes—but rarely catastrophic.
Operational Technology (OT):
OT applications are a different breed. They don’t just support operations—they are the operation. These apps are responsible for controlling, monitoring, and optimizing physical processes, often in real time. Examples include:
SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition): Monitors equipment and processes across facilities.
MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems): Tracks production orders, WIP (work-in-progress), machine status, quality checks, and more.
HMI (Human-Machine Interface): Displays machine data and allows operators to control equipment.
DCS (Distributed Control System): Manages large-scale continuous processes (e.g., oil refineries, chemical plants).
CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System): Manages maintenance schedules, work orders, and asset health.
These applications are purpose-built for speed, precision, and uptime. Some run on hardened industrial PCs or edge devices, others are embedded inside equipment, and many rely on industrial protocols like OPC UA, Modbus, or PROFINET to communicate with field devices. UIs are often minimalist—optimized for fast decisions, not pretty graphs.
And unlike IT apps, which can usually be updated during a quiet weekend, OT apps can’t go down without serious planning. A 30-second reboot could halt production, ruin a batch, or violate a safety protocol. These systems are tightly coupled to equipment and processes, often validated for regulatory compliance, and deeply integrated into plant-level operations.
Standards
Information Technology (IT):
IT standards are focused on information assurance—maintaining confidentiality, integrity, and availability of digital information—and ensuring governance and compliance across systems and users. These standards are typically driven by business needs, regulatory mandates (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, SOX), or cybersecurity frameworks. They help standardize how data is stored, processed, protected, and audited across an organization. Examples include:
ISO/IEC 27000 Series (Information Security Management Systems – ISMS):
A globally recognized family of standards focused on managing information security risk.ISO 27001 defines how to build and maintain an ISMS.
ISO 27002 provides guidance on controls.
ISO 27005 addresses risk management.
NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF):
A voluntary framework developed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology to help organizations identify, protect, detect, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity threats. Widely adopted across industries.SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls):
A compliance framework for managing customer data based on five principles: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy. It's especially relevant for cloud vendors and SaaS providers.COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies):
A governance and management framework for IT, helping enterprises align IT strategy with business goals, and enabling audit-readiness.CIS Controls (Center for Internet Security):
A prioritized set of cybersecurity best practices used to strengthen an organization’s defense posture. Often serves as an implementation roadmap for NIST or ISO standards.ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library):
A set of best practices for IT service management (ITSM), focusing on aligning IT services with business needs through structured service delivery and lifecycle management.GDPR / HIPAA / SOX (Regulatory Standards):
While not technical standards per se, these regulations drive the need for compliant IT practices, particularly around privacy, auditability, and data security.
Operational Technology (OT):
OT standards are designed around industrial reliability, operational continuity, and equipment safety. Unlike IT, OT environments often operate in hazardous or regulated settings (e.g., chemical, pharma, energy), and their standards emphasize system integrity, real-time response, and functional safety. Cybersecurity in OT is newer but growing in importance due to digital convergence. Examples include:
ISA-95 (International Society of Automation – Enterprise-Control System Integration):
A foundational model for integrating OT systems (like SCADA and MES) with IT systems (like ERP). It defines levels of manufacturing operations (Level 0–4), helps standardize data exchanges, and supports architectural clarity for smart factories.ISA/IEC 62443 (Cybersecurity for Industrial Automation and Control Systems):
A comprehensive suite of standards for securing OT environments.Addresses risk assessment, system hardening, secure communication, patch management, and vendor responsibilities.
Applies to system integrators, asset owners, and product suppliers.
Often referred to as the OT equivalent of ISO 27001.
NIST 800-82 (Guide to ICS Security):
A U.S. government publication providing guidance for securing Industrial Control Systems (ICS). It includes threat models, defense-in-depth strategies, and security controls tailored to OT systems.IEC 61508 (Functional Safety of E/E/PE Systems):
A global standard for electrical/electronic/programmable electronic safety-related systems. It defines safety lifecycle requirements, hazard analysis, and safety integrity levels (SILs) critical to process safety and automation.IEC 61131 (Programmable Controllers):
Defines standards for PLC hardware and software, including five programming languages like ladder diagram and structured text. It ensures interoperability across automation systems and is a cornerstone in industrial control programming.IEC 61850 (Communication Networks for Power Utility Automation):
A standard for substation automation, focusing on interoperability between devices from different vendors. Defines protocols for real-time control and monitoring in electrical grids.OPC UA (Open Platform Communications Unified Architecture):
A machine-to-machine communication protocol for industrial automation. It supports secure, platform-agnostic, and vendor-neutral data exchange—critical for digital transformation and IT/OT convergence.Modbus, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, BACnet (Industrial Communication Standards):
Not cybersecurity or management standards, but critical for interoperability in OT. They define how devices communicate on a network, and are foundational to SCADA, PLCs, and edge device integration.GAMP 5 (Good Automated Manufacturing Practice):
Especially relevant in life sciences, this guides the validation of automated systems to comply with regulations like FDA 21 CFR Part 11. It ensures OT systems meet quality and documentation requirements.AutomationML (IEC 62714):
An open standard for representing and exchanging engineering data across disciplines. It enables the integration of mechanical, electrical, and automation design tools into a consistent digital thread.
Workflow Management
Information Technology (IT):
IT workflows are designed around the delivery, support, and governance of digital services and infrastructure. They follow structured frameworks like ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) and are managed using platforms such as ServiceNow, Jira, or BMC Remedy. Typical workflows include user onboarding and offboarding, help desk ticket resolution, incident response, patch management, change control, asset lifecycle management, and cybersecurity event handling. These processes are often automated or semi-automated, with clear roles, responsibilities, and approval chains. Network Operations Centers (NOCs) and Security Operations Centers (SOCs) monitor system health and threats in real time, responding to alerts through defined playbooks and escalation protocols. The overarching goal is to ensure service availability, regulatory compliance, and operational continuity while minimizing digital risk and ensuring business users have uninterrupted access to necessary tools and data.
Operational Technology (OT):
OT workflows are grounded in the physical reality of industrial environments—what’s running, what’s failing, what’s safe, and what needs attention right now. These workflows guide how plant and field personnel respond to alarms, operate machinery, execute lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures, perform inspections, manage shift handovers, and schedule or execute preventive and corrective maintenance. Tools like CMMS, MES, SCADA, and HMI systems often support these workflows, though in many facilities they may still be partially manual (e.g., clipboards, whiteboards, or paper logs). Unlike IT, where workflows revolve around virtual systems, OT workflows are deeply tied to the timing, condition, and safety of assets and processes in the physical world. Human judgment, equipment status, and environmental conditions play a major role. Uptime, safety, and compliance with SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) are the top priorities, with regulatory and safety violations often carrying more serious consequences than in IT environments.
Identity Management
Information Technology (IT):
Focus is on individuals—managing usernames, roles, MFA, and permissions across applications and services. Access is typically granted via LDAP, Active Directory, or cloud identity providers (e.g., Azure AD, Okta). Role-based access control (RBAC) is common.
Operational Technology (OT):
Identity management is centered on equipment, sensors, and control systems. OT environments often require whitelisting of device MAC addresses, IPs, or certificates. Zero Trust and identity-aware security are growing trends in OT, but still less mature compared to IT. Some environments use PKI certificates and device fingerprinting to establish trust.
