What, exactly, do you plan to get from your OT pilot?

We have spoken with several organizations about their plans to manage better and secure operational technology (OT). We consistently hear that people plan first to establish visibility and then want to get started with a pilot.

They are generally on the right track, but the devil is always in the details.

My first question is, “What exactly are you piloting?”

It is easy to get caught up on the technology or the tools; there is work to get the OT Discovery tools functioning effectively and validated, but most uncertainty does not exist in the technology. I can confidently tell you that the OT Discovery tools will discover the assets, the integrations will work, and ServiceNow will perform exactly as you would expect; this part of the equation is table stakes. So, what should you be piloting, exactly?

To determine this, I ask a second question, “What is your definition of visibility?”.

Be precise because this is where the devil shows up. It is not wise to define visibility as  “a one-shot list of currently connected assets.” Few people can articulate it well enough. Still, I believe most organizations would do well to align their definition of visibility to something like “a correct, complete, and trusted data set of connected operational assets. The dataset must be managed and maintained sustainably, with enough metadata to minimize the data maintenance workload and optimize the value of the data across the organization”.

“Managed and maintained sustainably” is the part that will be a challenge, and it is the essential part. You don’t have to accept this definition of visibility, but you better have your own if you want something meaningful to pilot.

This thinking allows you to align your pilot with all the new or changed workloads required to fully execute your defined visibility requirements, at least from an MVP perspective.  This is far more difficult than validating the technology, but it gives the pilot a greater chance of doing something worthwhile within the organization. If you get the definition right, you will have to work through the technology and gain insight into the governance, the process, and the people needed to meet your defined outcomes sustainably. The work will show your team all that is required to execute, and you will also benefit from authentic organizational change management and operational sponsorship along the way.

I would love to be a part of the discussion! - Fritz Byam, President of ITS Partners