The convergence of IT and OT has become a hot topic in manufacturing, fast tracked by Industry 4.0 and the rise of the Internet of Things (IoT). As manufacturers race to digitalise operations and embrace smart industry, there is a clear challenge on the horizon. According to a recent study by Gartner, only 16% of CIOs across EMEA plan to prioritise building an enterprise-wide technology workforce beyond their own IT departments in 2025. Relying solely on IT departments to achieve smart industry success risks creating bottlenecks, limiting operations without the full integration of different teams.
The pace of the industrial evolution is intensifying, driven by advancements in AI and automation. Industries run the risk of lagging behind in terms of innovation, security and efficiency if IT and OT fail to work together.
Industry 4.0, along with digital transformation has propelled leaders to make the connection between the physical factory floor and the digital world that will support it. They must identify the most successful ways to unlock the full possibilities of data-driven manufacturing and fully embrace Industry 4.0 technologies to maintain pace in such a dynamic global market. However, to succeed in this new industrial era and accelerate smart industry success, IT and OT must be fundamentally aligned.
The integration of IT and OT
Achieving smart industry success hinges on the seamless integration of IT and OT teams. IT is the technology backbone of an organisation, managing data and applications, whilst OT teams are focused on monitoring, managing and securing an organisation’s industrial operations. Traditionally, these areas have functioned in silos, but in today’s competitive and fast-paced industrial environment, this approach is no longer feasible. Manufacturers must form integrated teams that bridge the divide between IT and OT.
However, this integration is often hindered by outdated and unscalable digital infrastructure. Many manufacturers lack the capacity to support future growth and data-intensive applications such as AI, digital twins, and IoT. To overcome this, businesses should invest in cloud computing, edge processing, and 5G connectivity to enhance scalability, ensuring a seamless flow of data and automation across IT and OT systems. This will not only support real-time operations but also provide the flexibility needed to adapt to evolving industrial demands.
Another major challenge is end-to-end data integration across product design, production, and supply chains. In many cases, IT and OT systems operate in isolation, leading to inefficiencies and data inconsistencies. Manufacturers can bridge this gap by implementing connected Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems, which integrate CAD, IoT, and ERP platforms. This enables real-time feedback loops, faster prototyping, and automated production adjustments, ensuring greater operational efficiency and responsiveness to market changes.
The success of Industry 4.0 relies on the convergence of IT and OT, enabling data flow and process optimisation between production, automation and information systems throughout the entire value chain. The strategies and responsibilities of the IT and OT departments must be carefully unified to ensure a smooth transition.
Encouraging collaboration and teamwork will enable a deeper understanding of factory-level challenges and needs. When combined, the teams can precisely handle supply chain optimisation, predictive maintenance and real-time production insights. Technology alone, won’t achieve smart industry success. Instead, manufacturers must develop a collaborative culture, encourage innovation and adopt data-driven decision making to streamline processes and bring considerable efficiencies to businesses.
A unified data architecture
The integration of the physical and digital not only encourages collaboration between IT and OT teams, but it lays the foundations for a unified data architecture that can unlock the full potential of a smart industry. Aligning data capture, storage, and analysis across IT and OT systems is crucial for enabling the use of advanced analytics and AI-powered optimisation. An open data architecture can support this integration by minimising vendor lock-in and ensuring the flexibility needed to tackle emerging challenges. Additionally, open innovation ecosystems can further strengthen interoperability and drive continuous improvement.
With this approach, manufacturing industries can reduce downtime and maximise efficiency across their entire operations process. Harnessing real-time data insights through the integration of both teams can streamline supply chains, improve transparency and perform root cause analysis to achieve maximum productivity.
As organisations produce larger and more detailed data footprints, the importance of this alignment to create a unified data platform will only increase. It’s not just about creating a single source of truth for accuracy, it’s about securing the data and ensuring it can become a trusted source for the wider business.
In the past, data from OT and IT systems have been handled independently, leading to duplications and inefficiencies. For manufacturers to position themselves as leaders in the smart industry revolution, they must dismantle these silos and create a single, unified data architecture that unites the different teams.
Through gaining a comprehensive outlook of the organisation's operations, leaders can gain a more holistic view of their activity, perform analysis quicker and enable real-time decision-making.
A crucial cultural shift
Successful smart industry transformations are as much about the people as they are about technology. The real secret is fostering a cultural shift across the organisation alongside the technical integration of IT-OT convergence. Although managing the human aspects are often overlooked, without the collaboration of the people handling the technology, even the most advanced systems may fail to deliver.
Despite the integration of IT and OT systems, they both still speak very different languages. Unfortunately, many digital transformation projects fail due to resistance from employees. To make the convergence of these teams a success, it is crucial that manufacturers promote open communication and create a shared sense of purpose. Effective change management programmes must be put in place, focusing on retraining both IT and OT teams, explaining the value of new technologies and fostering trust through the support of leadership. Engaging employees through workshops and incentives can help bridge the gap between traditional, and new and digitally led, ways of working.
Leaders should build cross-functional teams that value knowledge sharing. It’s all about creating an atmosphere in which IT and OT personnel are encouraged to use their unique skills and work together for the good of the organisation. It takes education, support from leadership and effective change management to foster trust in this modern, streamlined way of working. Alongside improving operational efficiency, a collaborative and adaptable culture puts manufacturing organisations in a strong position to thrive in a competitive industrial landscape.
The message is clear, the road to achieving long-term success is more than just owning and deploying the right technology, it’s driven by a people-orientated culture. With the correct combination of people and technology, supported by a unified data architecture, manufacturing organisations can fully unlock the vast potentials of Industry 4.0.
More than ever, cross-functional collaboration and trust must be at the forefront for manufacturers to optimise their operations and remain competitive whilst continuing to drive innovation. Smart industries have the potential to transform business and society, the time to act is now.
