No, IT is not about data (alone)
In my first weeks working at an OT specialist company, I was often explained IT people do not understand OT. Because OT is all about physical processes and IT is about data.
The comparison is incorrect. Data is important for both OT and IT. You must protect readings. Integrity is of great importance. I think there is a better comparison: If OT revolves around physical processes, the counterpart revolves around administrative processes. OT brews the beer, the counterpart sends the bill. Both are processes.
The image below is a generalization of "a process". That could be brewing beer, or sending the bill. Input and output in OT are physical, in the counterpart they are data. They both need steering information. Automation is used in both.
There are differences in the impact of a disruption of the process. It makes a big difference if you have to throw away a million liters of beer and brew it again because of a quality problem or if you send the bill too late.
You would say that the consequences on the OT side often have more impact than on the side of the counterpart. Yet, in OT the one responsible for brewing beer is handling the automation himself, where the one sending out the bill has set up an IT department.
Time for change?
