Rick Geiger presented Session BSAIoT-2100 -How to Successfully Converge IT and OT (Operational Technologies) at Cisco live in San Francisco this week, with strong interest from attendees.

Many of you know of Rick Geiger from this blog and other publications. Rick's session at Cisco Live 2014 discussed the many aspects and challenges of merging OT and IT in organizations.  Computing and networking for operations requires more IT-based support and a growing convergence of IT and OT skill sets to support intelligent devices and varied processes. Rick's session discussed the convergence driven by the critical needs of the OT organization for the process maturity of IT and for managing and securing the growing complexity of OT systems.

In bringing IT processes & capabilities to OT, IT will need to recognize the needs of critical control systems and the equivalent process capabilities that OT provides for engineering and operations. Successful companies will find ways to establish common ground & combine the expertise & value of both. Bringing standalone devices or isolated networks into core operational systems will bring clear and tangible advantages and business benefits to those companies.

Rick's session topic covered new ideas & concepts that are developing around IT/OT, providing major opportunities for those who understand how to leverage their IT know-how to Operations.

Missed it? Well you can download the slide deck here:

BSAIoT-2100 -How to Successfully Converge IT and OT (2014 San Francisco)-1 Hour, Rick Geiger (requires registration)

Let us know what you think!

(Find out more about convergence by reading Rick's series of blogs, starting with: Energy Networking Convergence Part 1 -The Journey From Serial to IP)