As industries continue to adopt digital transformation, the convergence of Operational Technology (OT) and Information Technology (IT) has become essential. The OT/IT Bridge is a key concept in industrial automation to connect real-time operational processes with business-oriented IT systems ensuring seamless data flow and coordination. This integration plays a critical role in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). It enables industries to monitor, control, and optimize their operations through real-time data synchronization and improve the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE). By leveraging IIoT middleware and data streaming technologies like Apache Kafka and Flink, businesses can achieve a unified approach to managing both production processes and higher-level business operations to drive greater efficiency, predictive maintenance, and streamlined decision-making.

Industrial Automation — The IT/OT Bridge

An OT/IT Bridge in industrial automation refers to the integration between Operational Technology (OT) systems, which manage real-time industrial processes, and Information Technology (IT) systems, which handle data, business operations, and analytics. This bridge is crucial for modern Industrial IoT (IIoT) environments, as it enables seamless data flow between machines, sensors, and industrial control systems (PLC, SCADA) on the OT side, and business management applications (ERP, MES) on the IT side.