The connected economy is shifting the industrial landscape and industrial companies are scrambling to connect their assets to the cloud. Executing an Industrial IoT (IIoT) transformation, however, remains a highly complex and challenging project. Indeed, according to a recent IoT Signals (2019) report by Microsoft, around 30% of IIoT projects fail at the proof of concept stage.

What makes IIoT particularly difficult is the lack of interoperability between Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT). Given their disparate functions, the two worlds have historically existed in siloes – OT is about the monitoring, control of industrial assets and the acquisition of sensor data, while the IT function is steeped in enterprise systems and cloud applications. With both these worlds using entirely different sets of technologies and tools, it has become critical to bridge the gap between them to ensure a successful IIoT transformation.

It so happens that recent innovations in the IIoT have come a long way in simplifying these complexities. For the first time, industrial companies are able to focus on what matters most – their data – instead of worrying about the technical nuances of connecting their IT and OT infrastructure.