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IT/OT Convergence | Unlocking value through a tailored approach

Manufacturing
IT OT Convergence
Management Consulting
IT Transformations

Information Technology (IT) and Operational Technology (OT) serve distinct missions within an organization. IT supports enterprise functions such as human resources, finance, and commercial operations by providing applications and digital infrastructure. OT supports plant operations by controlling and automating physical processes through equipment such as sensors, actuators, controllers, and supervisory systems.

The distinct missions of IT and OT have led each domain to prioritize different types of risks. IT organizations focus on protecting data confidentiality, ensuring integrity, and maintaining system availability—often summarized as the CIA triad. OT environments, on the other hand, prioritize the availability and safety of physical processes, emphasizing real-time performance and operational continuity. These differing priorities shape security policies, organizational culture, standards frameworks, and investment decisions.


The introduction of Industry 4.0 brought an increase in digitalization, automation, and the integration of cyber-physical systems across industries. This shift created a need to connect IT and OT systems. Smart factories, predictive maintenance, and data-driven decision-making require seamless communication between enterprise systems and operational assets. As a result, collaboration between IT and OT domains is no longer optional but foundational for modern industrial operations.

A decade after Industry 4.0’s introduction, many organizations still face challenges integrating IT and OT. Structural barriers persist, driven by differing priorities, governance models, and vendor ecosystems. As a result, the benefits of digitalization remain out of reach. Based on our experience with customers, this article explores these barriers and how to overcome them.
06 May 2025 minute read

Key takeaways about IT/OT Convergence

Achieving meaningful IT/OT convergence isn’t just about deploying smart technologies or chasing isolated value cases, it requires a fundamental shift in how organizations design, govern, and operate across domains. Drawing from cross-sector experience, this article outlines a holistic approach to overcome deep-seated structural and cultural barriers.

  • Value cases alone won’t drive convergence. While useful for securing funding, isolated use cases often ignore the underlying infrastructure and organizational capacity needed to scale and sustain transformation.
  • One-size-fits-all approach to convergence fall short. OT environments differ dramatically by industry, geography, and strategy, demanding tailored approaches rather than generic best practices.
  • Sustainable convergence requires operating model change. Lasting impact stems from aligning architecture, governance, and collaboration to reflect the complexity of modern industrial environments.
  • Mindset is the biggest barrier. True integration means bridging not just systems, but cultures, requiring trust, shared incentives, and new forms of cross-domain ownership.

Why IT/OT convergence matters now more than ever before


To put the situation into context: Industrial assets typically operate for more than a decade with minimal change, reducing opportunities for transformation. Next, designing and implementing a fully integrated OT system requires substantial investment—creating another barrier to adopting new technologies. As a result, IT/OT convergence has a substantially longer timeline than is typical in IT.

Recent developments have increased the urgency for IT/OT convergence.

  • First, there is growing acceptance of cloud and AI technologies in plant operations. Functions traditionally managed at Purdue level 3—such as scheduling, inventory, quality, and maintenance—are increasingly integrated with cloud platforms to realize Industry 4.0 use cases.

  • Second, the cybersecurity threat landscape is expanding. In response, governments are introducing stricter regulations for industrial organizations. And as a result, the long-standing "open by default" principle in many OT environments is no longer acceptable from both risk and compliance points of view.

  • Third, new security, compliance, and functional requirements have accelerated the adoption of new technologies in industrial environments. This has increased complexity, required broader expertise, and heightened coordination demands—straining current IT/OT organizations and introducing continuity risks.

These drivers push IT/OT convergence to the top of the agenda for many Industrial organizations.

Facts & Figures

0%
Cloud & AI Powered
Value cases according to McKinsey
0%
Productivity increases
(or more) are well within range
0%
Scrap cost reductions
is good for Ebitda and our planet!

The pitfall of the value case based approach

A common approach to driving IT/OT integration is through individual value cases. These are often framed as targeted initiatives that promise measurable returns—such as reducing downtime, improving energy efficiency, or enabling predictive maintenance. By linking investment to tangible business outcomes, value cases help secure funding and management support.

Typically, value cases result in statements like these: “According to McKinsey, two-thirds of leading-edge use cases in plants are enabled by cloud and AI technologies. Organizations that have implemented these value cases report productivity increases of up to 50%, improvements in overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) of up to 30%, and reductions in cost of quality, such as scrap costs, of up to 70%. For instance, a steel plant identified by McKinsey achieved a 15% EBITDA growth by deploying 50 AI-driven use cases.”

While this approach is effective in securing funding and initiating change, it often introduces new technologies and complexity into operations without addressing the foundational infrastructure, security, and organizational capabilities needed to integrate, operate, and maintain them. This misalignment creates long-term risks and limits the sustainability of transformation efforts.

Ultimately, value case-based approaches will not deliver the capabilities needed for sustainable operations. True IT/OT convergence is an organizational shift— aligning two distinct domains under a shared framework to integrate new technologies faster and manage increasing complexity more effectively.


Why is it so hard: three structural barriers

Advisors often propose policies for IT/OT convergence based on patterns observed in other organizations. These recommendations are typically derived from case studies, industry benchmarks, or best practices frameworks that emphasize successful outcomes.

But while OT superficially resembles IT—both rely on digital technologies, networks, and data—OT does not support a shared service function like finance, where requirements are relatively consistent across organizations. OT is a core operational capability, shaped by the organization’s sector, asset scale, geographic footprint, operational model, growth strategy and the physical process.

To illustrate how these factors shape the OT organization:
  1. Different industries vary significantly in asset lifecycles and operational maturity. For example, the automotive sector often refreshes production lines regularly to align with annual model release cycles, leading to high levels of standardization. In contrast, energy generation systems are typically built for stability, with assets remaining in operation for decades with minimal modification. These differences shape how each sector can approach IT/OT integration.

  2. Organizational dimensions also shape the structure and capability of OT. A globally distributed company operating unmanned facilities across time zones will require different tooling, staffing models, and support structures than a locally focused organization with on-site personnel. These variations introduce distinct constraints and demands on the OT organization.

  3. An organization’s growth strategy also affects the structure and complexity of its OT landscape. Mergers and acquisitions often result in a patchwork of systems, vendors, and architectures that are difficult to standardize. In contrast, organizations that design their own facilities have considerably greater control over their OT landscape.

Rather than applying generic best practices, successful convergence strategies must be grounded in the specific context of each organization and expecting to “standardize” across such a heterogeneous landscape—without acknowledging the technical, cultural, and operational constraints—is not only unrealistic, but often a major source of friction.

Simon Dompeling

"New technologies are brought into operations without addressing foundational infrastructure & security"

Our approach to bridging the IT and OT worlds


Our approach is based on our experience supporting customers in various sectors. We advocate for a holistic revision of the organization's target operating model—one that establishes a durable capability supported by a fit-for-purpose organization with clear roles, responsibilities, and governance.

  1. Architecture: Start with the end in mind by defining the business outcomes, capabilities, and use cases that the organization aims to support. From there, develop architectural design patterns that place the OT application at the center. These patterns should template the supporting infrastructure, security services, and integration points needed for sustainable operations.

  2. Governance: Assign responsibility for delivering services to the team best suited to deliver and manage them.  Depending on the service, this could be an IT team, an OT team, or a new cross-functional group. Teams may be global or local, internal or external, depending on the organization's structure, existing asset landscape, and contracted terms for support.

  3. Collaboration: Provide the processes and tooling necessary to enable effective cooperation between support teams across IT and OT. This includes shared communication platforms, integrated escalation procedures, and clear responsibilities. The goal is to prevent scenarios where a (local) OT support partner cannot restore service or implement a change due to the inability to engage or coordinate with a (global) IT partner. Credible support requires that collaboration is designed into the operating model.


The approach requires alignment across architecture, governance, and collaboration and to be credible enough to earn the trust of plant operators and frontline teams. Without it, organizations risk fragmented support and diminished support from those who rely on these systems.

The gap between IT and OT is one of mindset

True IT/OT convergence is not defined by a technical milestone or a value case. It is not the implementation of ISA-95 or IEC-62264 frameworks, but an organizational transformation. Achieving convergence requires aligning systems, incentives, timelines, and decision-making authority across domains that have traditionally operated in isolation. The divide between IT and OT is not just architectural—it's one of mindset. Bridging this divide involves designing new operating models, redefining ownership, and designing sourcing strategies that reflect the organization’s industrial environment.

We believe convergence is not a one-time project, but a journey that demands vision, trust, and execution power. Organizations that commit to rethinking their governance, vendor ecosystems, and ways of working will unlock the full promise of convergence: secure, scalable, and adaptive operations that enable both innovation and resilience. Those that hesitate risk being left behind in a world where the digital backbone is no longer optional, it’s existential.

Harry Boersen Director Management Consulting