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

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.