How Is OT Different From IT? OT vs. IT

IT is the technology backbone of any organization. It’s necessary for monitoring, managing, and securing core functions such as email, finance, human resources (HR), and other applications in the data center and cloud.

OT is for connecting, monitoring, managing, and securing an organization’s industrial operations. Businesses engaged in activities such as manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, utilities, and transportation, among many others, rely heavily on OT. Robots, industrial control systems (ICS), Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), and computer numerical control (CNC) are examples of OT.

Operational technology can also be found in warehouses and in outdoor areas such as parking lots and highways. Some such OT examples include ATMs and kiosks, connected buses, trains, and service fleets, weather stations, or a system that allows a city to manage chargers for electric vehicles.

The key difference between IT and OT is that IT is centered on an organization’s front-end informational activities, while OT is focused on their back-end production (machines).