BMS reConnect #16: The OT vs IT Divide
And Aaron Judge. And mammoths.
DISCLAIMER
All opinions in this newsletter are my own.
BASEBALL
I used to be really into baseball. Growing up in the NYC suburbs during the late-90’s/early-00’s Yankees dynasty, it was hard to NOT be into baseball. Now with kids, a career, and a streaming service that doesn’t carry the games, I’ve admittedly lost a lot of the passion of my youth.
But I have to say…Aaron Judge’s season this year is bringing me back! I’ll just leave this right here:
Everybody digs the long ball.
OT vs. IT
A prominent theme broadcast across the building automation industry over the past 5-10 years has been the convergence of Operational Technology (OT)1 systems with traditional Information Technology (IT) systems. As building operators have come to increasingly require remote access and higher network speeds, the collision of OT and IT systems—and perhaps most importantly, their respective network administrators—has become inevitable.
There has historically been a gulf between these related disciplines; there is not an outright conflict, but a certain tension exists. My sense is that the practitioners on the OT side of the fence and their counterparts on the IT side don’t quite speak the same language. Or better yet, they probably speak the same language, but deal in slightly misaligned priorities. Specifically, the “CIA Triad” is different in the two spaces. Note this slide from an International Society of Automation (ISA) ISA62443 cybersecurity training I took a few years ago:
For the enterprise IT folks, confidentiality of data transmission is of primary importance. It’s not the end of the world if you lose a few data packets here or there, or if the system has to go down for maintenance…as long as the enterprise data is secure. For the OT folks—specifically if you consider mission critical applications—availability is most important. If a critical network serving a critical process goes down, there could be BIG trouble (think data center crash or loss of humidity control in an operating room). The controls network HAS to be available, but the confidentiality of the data contained within that network has historically been less important.
I bumped into an interesting website/webinar the other day that dives into the topic of the Great IT/OT Divide. The article cites a recent study by the Ponemon Institute whereby over 600 practitioners in the IT/OT fields were interviewed on this topic. The findings were of interest, perhaps most notably the recommendations put forward in the conclusion on how to bridge the gap between IT/OT:
Create cross-functional teams of IT and OT SMEs to bridge the cultural divide.
Hold regular board meetings to discuss security safeguards and bottom line impact.
Ensure enough budget and personnel to improve visibility and detection of threats and vulnerabilities across all environments.
Map out threat-driven and consequence-driven scenarios most likely to impact high-priority assets.
Leverage partners and 3rd parties to bridge internal gaps (e.g. with rapid incident response retainer) and tie it to the business problem.
A recording of the webinar, where a panel of experts perform an insightful deep dive is here:
THE METAVERSE
Since I touched on the topic of the metaverse in my last newsletter, I wanted to share this piece I recently came across. In it, Mark Zuckerberg discusses the competitive landscape for metaverse-based services, and how Facebook (now Meta) has a divergent philosophy on the topic compared with the approach Apple is taking.
SENSORS
Good write up here in Facility Executive magazine about applying energy harvesting, low power wireless sensors that utilize the enOcean standard in Smart Buildings. I first learned about enOcean technology about a decade ago, and the concept of having a self-powered sensor with no battery or power supply struck me as intriguing at the time. The portfolio of available sensors that make use of the technology is growing, making it a good choice for standing up IoT sensor networks serving a wide range of functions. I am seeing more and more BMS installers calling upon this technology in retrofit situations. Good one to have in the tool bag, and a good one for engineers and facility managers to be aware of.
HUMAN MIGRATION INTO THE AMERICAS
Researchers from the University of Texas have recently discovered some really old mammoth remains in New Mexico. I find that interesting already, but what makes the finding super interesting is that these mammoths were killed and butchered by humans…37,000 years ago!!! But wait, you say: there were no people in the Americas 37,000 years ago, with the earliest pre-Clovis cultures on the continent dating to around 15,000 years ago. To that I say: exactly! That’s what makes this so cool.
The story is exceptional because of its potential to re-frame the dates of human migration onto the American continent. Truly fascinating stuff…especially if you are like me and you are moderately obsessed with the late-Pleistocene. And I mean…who isn’t?
GUITAR
If you’ve never seen Andy McKee play the guitar, you really should:
That’s it for now. This summer has been a hot one. Stay cool out there, everybody!
Per gartner.com, Operational Technology (OT) is hardware and software that detects or causes a change, through the direct monitoring and/or control of industrial equipment, assets, processes and events.