From unplanned downtime to unmatched competitiveness

The financial risks of unplanned downtime have never been greater for those working with operational technology (OT). According to Siemens, in the automotive sector alone, an hour of downtime costs a staggering $2.3 million. The cost for a large plant in heavy industry has spiked 319% since 2019, and in the oil and gas sector, higher barrel costs have resulted in even higher downtime losses. For the world’s 500 biggest companies, these numbers add up to a loss of $1.4 trillion annually, equivalent to 11% of their total revenues.¹

These figures are a stark reminder of the risks that COOs and CTOs manage every day. With the rise of AI analytics, a new arms race has begun. Your competitors are investing in data-driven operations to protect against these very risks, and if you’re not improving and investing in your ability to harness OT data that’s trapped on the plant floor, you’re risking your future competitiveness and bottom line.

The risk of the status quo: Data trapped in the past

For decades, the air gap has been the gold standard for protecting critical OT systems. While effective at providing a security perimeter, it created a new problem: data silos. This has led to operational inefficiencies and manual processes that hinder data-driven analytics and decision-making.

The risks of this status quo are becoming too great to ignore:

• Lost competitive advantage as your competitors act to leverage operational data for predictive analysis, process optimization and digital transformation initiatives. If your organization relies on outdated, manual data transfers, you are at a significant disadvantage.
• Stifled innovation, as your AI and machine learning initiatives can only be as good as the data you provide. The promise of predictive maintenance and enhanced asset management cannot be realized if your OT data remains isolated. In fact, Siemens estimates that for large industrial organizations, full adoption of these technologies could save 2.1 million hours of downtime annually and deliver $388 billion in savings through a 5% increase in productivity.¹
• Increased vulnerability risks as the reliance on legacy systems creates a substantial technical debt. These systems frequently lack the security features needed to defend against modern threats like ransomware, which makes them increasingly vulnerable as they are forced into greater connectivity.

Your competitive future is on the line

The digital transformation of OT builds the necessary infrastructure and secure data pipelines for future capabilities like AI analytics and competitive differentiation. 

The question is simple: If your organization chooses to maintain the business-as-usual approach, which one of your competitors will take on the risk of modernizing their OT to increase their market share?

JSCAPE by Redwood provides the strategic solution to this challenge. It is a secure, adaptable platform designed for the complex needs of OT/IT convergence. The platform’s secure hub-and-spoke architecture offers an ethical air gap that allows for the secure and seamless consolidation of data from your legacy and disparate OT systems into your information technology (IT) environment.

By implementing JSCAPE and unlocking your valuable OT data, you can achieve:

• Financial benefit and cost-justification: You can directly tie your investment to a reduction in unplanned downtime, improved operational efficiency and a strengthened security posture. The world’s 500 biggest companies still lose $1.4 trillion annually through unplanned downtime, nearly 11% of their revenues. 
• Scalability for the future: JSCAPE’s flexible architecture is designed to handle the growing volume and complexity of data that comes with the rise of AI and connected devices without expensive product suites or complex add-ons.

The era of Industry 4.0 and the “Smart Factory” is here. Investing in the secure and seamless integration of your OT and IT systems is a non-negotiable imperative for market leadership and competitive survival.  

Citations:

¹. Siemens AG, Digital Industries. (2024). The true cost of downtime 2024: How much do leading manufacturers lose through inefficient maintenance? Retrieved from https://assets.new.siemens.com/siemens/assets/api/uuid:1b43afb5-2d07-47f7-9eb7-893fe7d0bc59/TCOD-2024_original.pdf.