There’s a catch. Industrial sites and facilities are very different to typical offices and business premises. And so are their networking requirements.
Why? Because connectivity in these locations is often challenged by their physical scale, remote location, and/or construction materials. This is exacerbated by cumbersome legacy technology that was built many years ago and is increasingly expensive to maintain.
The result? “Shadow IT” often arises, reducing central oversight and control. And companies often end up with a costly and underperforming “cocktail of connectivity” across both IT and OT, comprising thousands of gateways, routers and endpoint devices from a wide range of different providers.