Must-have tools, must-know skills for the IIoT

Sept. 6, 2016

Must-have tools for the IIoT

  • Intelligent sensors, instruments, I/O modules and other device-level components, which are smarter than traditional counterparts because they have microprocessors, Ethernet ports, Internet-protocol addresses and internal webpages
  • Wired, fiber, wireless, fieldbus, Ethernet or a mixed physical network infrastructure
  • Network communication protocols, such as Ethernet TCP/IP, HART, Modbus or Modbus TCP, Profibus or Profinet, Foundation fieldbus, DeviceNet or EtherNet/IP and others
  • Power, local 24 V, battery or energy harvesting
  • Inventory of all devices, network, connections, processes, applications, facilities
  • Software factory acceptance tests (SFATs) for evaluating software before it’s deployed
  • Network monitoring, evaluation and packet inspection software
  • Cybersecurity, including managed Ethernet switches serving as gateways and firewalls, password protection, encrypted communications, software patching policy,
  • Virtualized computing on servers
  • Cloud computing service

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Must know skills for the IIoT

  • Willing to learn and teach
  • Can serve as IIoT champion in organization
  • Able to recruit IIoT team members
  • Ready to get outside silos and cross organizational barriers
  • Learn other technical languages and lingo
  • Interface with IT colleagues to bridge OT/IT gaps
  • Develop business and performance goals
  • Determine how IIoT can serve those goals
  • Inventory existing devices, networks, connections and applications
  • Develop plan for migration from old network to IIoT
  • Secure management and co-worker buy-in
  • Support and sustain cultural shift
  • Training and re-training on new and emerging IIoT solutions

 For more, read Control's August cover story