Opto 22 IoT Certified System Integrators aims to bridge IT/OT gap

Aug. 26, 2017 – Industrial automation manufacturer and Internet of Things platform developer Opto 22 has announced its IoT Certification program for authorized System Integrators, called OptoPartners.

This program addresses a specific need as Internet of Things (IoT), Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), or Industry 4.0 applications and projects proliferate.

“The potential benefits of IIoT applications are enormous, from predicting system failures to making processes more efficient to reducing costs. However, to realize these benefits, information technology (IT) and operations technology (OT) teams must work together to leverage and apply each other’s technology and skillsets,” says Opto 22.
 
“At ACS, we recognized that having the skills to get data where it needs to go was going to be necessary for our growth as a business,” says Dave Pilliod, president of IoT Certified OptoPartner Advanced Control Solutions. “With their mindset of multi-platform communications, Opto 22 has provided the tools to enable us to have Operations and Information Technologies come together. It would be a disservice to our customers not to be as learned as possible on the technologies of today, even if they lie outside the traditional realm of automation.”
 
IT/OT convergence continues to be a challenge on both the technical and cultural fronts. In today’s enterprise, a significant communication gap exists between OT and IT technologies. Each uses its own methods of connectivity, from the physical connectors and buses that data rides on, to the language each uses to convert bits and bytes into human readable and actionable information.
 
Opto 22 describe its OptoPartners as possessing the “unique combination of skillsets in both the OT and IT domains.”

“They have demonstrated proficiency in OT technologies such as sensors, instrumentation, controls, and automation as well as with IT technologies such as networking, databases, computing, data analytics, and cloud or edge IoT platforms,” it notes.

Opto 22 has announced the following 16 IoT Certified OptoPartners at the time of program launch, and expects to build on this group to further serve the worldwide marketplace:
 
• Advanced Control Solutions
• Asahi Electronics Corporation
• Controlled Environment Structures Inc.
• Excelion Partners
• Facilities Protection Inc.
• Mulder-Hardenberg B.V.
• N-Compass Consulting Group
• Optomation Systems
• Parijat Controlware Inc.
• Perceptive Controls
• Processcomponent A.B.
• RDI controls LLC
• Sayantek
• SCADA Solutions
• System Devices U.K.
• Tough Automation