Strategic Insights: Digital & Operational Efficiency

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Strategic Insights: Digital & Operational Efficiency
strategic IT insights from the week

Strategic Insights: Digital & Operational Efficiency

Next Dimension curates the most practical and useful tools and strategic IT insights from the web.  This week we shared articles across our social media talking about Digital and Operational Efficiency.

With threats on the rise, gaining visibility into the OT environment is crucial.  Conducting regular architecture reviews will help ensure devices are up to date.

ZDNet says Industrial Control Systems (ICS) at greatest risk for new cyber threats on the shop floor.  Industrial Control Systems pose a particularly challenging risk – they’re connected to almost everything.  What’s worse?  They’re likely connected to every location as well.  Worst case scenario?  Production is halted long enough to impact an entire industry.

This is why ICS protection has quickly climbed the ranks to the most important element in Operational Security.  It’s not the amount of threats in the market, it’s the severity of the impact if threats materialize.

What can you do?  Gain the ability to see.

“Gaining visibility into the OT environment is very crucial – you can’t protect what you don’t know exists”.  Not sure how to get started?  We can help.

SOURCE: ZDNET

Agile decision making relies on collaboration between IT and the Boardroom.  The business, and its technology, must work together to complete the transformation.   

BusinessLive shares great insight about the cohesiveness that must exist between IT and the Boardroom for a successful Digital Transformation.  To truly evolve, the organization must consider what’s best for staff, customers, and suppliers.  Every decision maker needs to be on the same page.  Here are 4 NON TECHNICAL gaps that must be addressed for a successful transformation:

1. Gaps in existing leadership capability

2. Gaps in digital mindset

3. Gaps in operating models

4. Gaps in skills set

BusinessLive prioritizes changing mindsets and reskilling and upskilling as critical first steps to transformation success.

SOURCE: BUSINESSLIVE

Operational Technology on the shop floor is at risk as team are overwhelmed by volumes of security and data.  

IT and OT Convergence will continue to soar through 2021 and beyond.  As integration increases, so does the need for secure and reliable connections between devices, plants, and networks.  Teams are overwhelmed by the volume of data, and the requirements to secure that data.  These challenges can no longer be solved by IT alone.  Once again, articles like these are clearly defining the problem;

MANUFACTURING ORGANIZAITONS LACK THE VISIBILITY NEEDED FOR EFFECTIVE THREAT DETECTION AND RESPONSE – ESPECIALLY WHERE OT ASSETS ARE CONCERNED.

SOURCE: PRNEWSWIRE

Entrepreneur says 67% of the worlds largest organizations are likely to invest more in technology than staff development in 2021.  Which way are you leaning? 

With the addition of connected devices, paired with the plethora of new technology solutions available, your organization’s tech budget can get blown before 2021 even begins.  Business operations need to be more safe, and more readily available for not only remote staff, but also remote customers.

Now is the most critical time to dispel the belief that your company’s digital transformation must be a long, expensive, and arduous process.  There are many solutions that can help you improve and automate your processes, and better and more safely connect with customers, without the need for massive investments or vast in-house technical knowledge.

SOURCE: ENTREPRENEUR

Follow us on Facebook or Twitter and never miss an update.  Prefer a weekly recap? Join our Community (on the right) and be notified when our Industry Wrap is published each week.

Looking for more great resources? Visit our Learning Academy.

Topics:

Related Articles