A step by step guide to an IIoT project
25 October 2018
Jason Andersen, VP of business line management for Stratus Technologies, shares the key success factors for achieving next-generation automation capabilities in legacy environments.
The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) offers enormous potential for manufacturing and process enterprises alike, allowing these companies to generate insights that promise to transform efficiency and productivity. But the IIoT doesn’t come without challenges – in fact, many manufacturing operations rely on production systems that may be years (or decades) old and it is expensive and unrealistic to expect them to ditch it all and create an entirely new infrastructure from the ground up.
Define an architecture that releases the insights locked in your data
One challenge faced by current industrial environments is that they are often composed of “siloed” data stores throughout a facility. Another challenge is that many of the operational technology (OT) systems keeping the plant up and running are often outdated applications residing on dedicated hardware. This creates multiple single points of failure and makes it very difficult to integrate the data needed for advanced analytics. Sharing and consolidating data are key components of IIoT’s value offering, so an important step is designing your next architecture with industry-standard interoperability techniques.
Find the right home for your new applications
Gathering data and making it actionable with things (sensors, machines etc) at the edge of the network is the foundation of IIoT success. Today’s edge infrastructure relies more on monolithic data collection and alerting applications that are not a great fit for cloud based deployments. But other future applications are cloud native. As you consider adding these new applications and upgrading your existing apps, take a hard look at the best places to host those applications. Inevitably you will find a need for a more advanced edge optimied digital infrastructure to support these next generation applications. Edge-optimised infrastructure is designed with the local operator or users in mind, so it’s easy to manage, ultra-reliable and secure.
Seriously consider virtualisation
We often find that edge sites aren’t virtualised and that’s probably a mistake. Virtualised servers that can reside on low-cost, standards-based hardware greatly reduce the amount of physical systems that must be purchased, configured and maintained. Beyond hardware consolidation, virtualised servers offer many additional benefits, from increased interoperability and greater infrastructure efficiency to easier application upgrades.
Prioritise data resilience and security embedded in your infrastructure
Data is central to the operations of any IIoT project – which means that the risk of losing data or having it compromised is very real. Data loss can have a huge impact on the reliability and functionality of the IIoT. For that reason, companies need to be careful to protect and secure their edge data and applications. Especially for manufacturers who are moving towards IIoT, fault tolerance must be a mission-critical priority.
Modernise your digital infrastructure
In order to tap the potential of next-gen, intelligent automation, one must modernise the foundation on which it is built. Once your next edge architecture is planned, it’s time to look at existing OT infrastructure, which often includes old desktop hardware and servers running outdated operating systems and software, dedicated PCs for each application, and proprietary systems that have been patched for years. This legacy infrastructure presents many problems, including security, connectivity and the challenge of managing a complex interconnected infrastructure. In order to minimise vulnerabilities, OT and IT must update the digital infrastructure in a way that strikes a balance between zero tough simplicity and enterprise grade resiliency.
Create the right team to carry you forward
The different outlooks of OT organisations and IT organisations is a common barrier to the IIoT transition. The gap between these two cultures needs to be bridged to meet the competing priorities on both sides in order to achieve the full potential of the IIoT. Recently, “industrial technologists” who bring a combined IT/OT perspective to the enterprise are beginning to emerge. Because they live on both sides, they play a key role in meeting both OT and IT priorities and understand that for IIoT to be a reality, “always on” availability needs must be met.
Stratus takes the complexity out of keeping business critical applications running 24/7. Stratus’ technologies proactively prevent instances of unplanned downtime both in the datacentre and at the edge, and our services ensure any issues are addressed before customers need to. Global Fortune 500 companies and small medium sized businesses in a wide range of industries across the globe have been relying on Stratus for operationally simple, continuous availability for more than 35 years.
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