By: Kelly Switt – Red Hat

When I talk to industrial customers, a consistent theme emerges: the world of operational technology (OT) is undergoing a rapid, often-daunting transformation. For decades, OT environments have been built on proprietary, siloed systems, prized for their stability and longevity. But as we see technology power improvements in efficiency, productivity, and cost reduction, the pressure to evolve is immense. It's no longer just about keeping the factory running; it's about making it smarter, more agile, and more resilient.

This shift presents a unique challenge for IT managers and business leaders. How do you bring the benefits of modern IT—like automation, security, and data analytics—into a world built on a completely different set of principles, all without disrupting mission-critical operations? As a software company with deep IT roots, Red Hat knew that in order to truly have relevance in this space, we needed to not only bring in experts in the OT space, but also to partner with trusted brands like ABB, Schneider Electric, and more that could provide guidance on how to move into the OT space.

Red Hat is focused on helping industries navigate this transformation by providing a more consistent advanced compute platform designed to simplify deployment, maintenance, and operations. Our open source solutions are designed to lower operating costs, accelerate time-to-market, and deliver reliable innovation with greater security capabilities. The answer isn't about replacing everything overnight. It's about building a bridge and this is where a comprehensive, platform-centric approach becomes so powerful.

Breaking down silos is key

Breaking down silos is key. In my experience, the biggest roadblock isn't the technology itself—it's the historical and necessary distinction between IT and OT. While IT focuses on infrastructure, data management, and security, OT's primary concern is process control and availability. These domains have different priorities and value propositions, and we respect those boundaries. However, when they operate in complete isolation, it leads to fragmented processes, inconsistent security policies, and mountains of unused data. A unified platform is the essential first step toward addressing these challenges. It provides the common technology layer that allows OT to adopt modern IT approaches, fostering collaboration between teams and enabling IT personas to better support the OT environment without crossing operational lines. This approach empowers both IT and OT in their respective domains while providing the necessary integration framework.

The sheer volume of data generated at the industrial edge is staggering, yet so much of it is locked away in siloed systems. Modernising your edge infrastructure is the key to unlocking this data's potential. The advanced compute platform provides a framework to collect, process, and analyse data at the edge before transmitting it to centralised systems.

Key benefits of Red Hat's advanced compute platform approach

1. Unifying workloads for simplicity and efficiency: Industrial applications often rely on a mix of legacy, Windows-based workloads running in VMs alongside modern, containerised applications. Managing these diverse workloads across distributed sites is a major headache. Red Hat’s advanced compute platform is built on Red Hat OpenShift and helps solve this by allowing you to optimise both containerised and virtualised applications on a single, standardised platform. This reduces infrastructure complexity and helps organisations increase the efficiency of their deployed hardware.

2. Automating for consistency and reliability: One of the most valuable lessons I've learned from the industrial sector is the need for consistency. Manual updates and system management are not only time-consuming but also prone to error. The advanced compute platform strategy uses procedural automation tools like Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform to automate these processes, reducing manual effort and improving system reliability. The platform also utilises declarative state application management (GitOps), which can be thought of as "zero-touch application management." This means that if an application fails, the platform automatically restores it to its desired state, providing predictability and resilience for industrial workloads. By consuming both declarative and procedural automation, organisations can significantly drive operational efficiency across the edge.

3. Enhancing security without the headaches: As we connect more devices and systems, cybersecurity becomes a paramount concern. The industrial sector faces strict regulatory requirements and a growing number of threats. By adopting a proven modern platform, you can integrate IT security best practices—such as access controls, automated compliance enforcement, and container security policies—directly into your OT environment. This strengthens security while minimising operational overhead. Because the platform helps enforce and audit these policies across all distributed sites, organisations can more effectively prove their regulatory compliance.

4. Unlocking the value of industrial data: The amount of data generated at the industrial edge is staggering, yet so much of it is locked away in siloed systems. Modernising your edge infrastructure is the key to unlocking this data's potential. The advanced compute platform provides a framework to collect, process, and analyse data at the edge before transmitting it to centralised systems. This capability enhances:

• Real-time decision-making: Acting on data insights immediately to optimise production workflows and reduce downtime.
• Predictive maintenance: Using AI-powered analytics to detect potential failures before they occur, reducing costly outages and maintenance delays.
• Operational efficiency: Automating data collection and processing, allowing resources to be used more effectively.

Collaborating for your success

At Red Hat, our commitment to open source innovation is at the heart of everything we do, which is why we've made significant investments to deeply understand the unique requirements of the OT space. This includes ongoing work to integrate Real-Time Operating System (RTOS) capabilities and optimise Red Hat OpenShift for industrial environments, helping provide a high level of resiliency and performance for critical workloads at the edge. We recognise that solving these complex challenges takes a village, and our technical focus is complemented by robust collaborations with industry leaders like ABB, Schneider Electric, and Intel. These partnerships ensure that we can deliver tailored, tested, and validated solutions that enhance reliability and scalability. By adopting this platform-centric approach, you can prepare your architecture for the future and navigate the integration of IT and OT with confidence. The advanced compute platform approach provides the foundational interoperability, automation, and security focus required to help you achieve your modernisation goals. 

Learn more about Red Hat’s ongoing work in the industrial space.