Siemens and Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s networking subsidiary Aruba have formed a strategic partnership promising to bridge the worlds of operational technology and information technology – one of the biggest challenges facing industrial IoT and industry 4.0.
The two companies says their complementary product portfolios will enable them to “support customers with highly reliable, secure and insightful data networks enabling high plant and network availability,” and that customers will “benefit from integrated networks with proven interoperability from factory floors to corporate offices based on Siemens’ expertise as a leading provider of industrial ethernet network components and Aruba’s as a leader in wired and wireless LAN infrastructure.”
To address one of the biggest challenges of bridging the two worlds – security, they say their respective technologies can be combined, “For example, Aruba’s 360 Secure Fabric for IT networks can be combined with Siemens’ ‘Defense in Depth’ OT security concept.” They will alos tailor security solutions to address specific customer requirements.
They say the priorities of the two domains differ. “In the IT world, cybersecurity and trustworthy data are top priorities, whereas in the OT world, plant availability and manufacturing output targets are most important.
And they promise to bridge this divide by providing integrated networks with tested interoperability and documented in validated reference designs that will “help to ensure that integrated OT/IT systems can be installed rapidly with ease, operated more securely, and supported more efficiently.”
They say their solutions will include wired and wireless networking products and related software that can be implemented via several channels including their respective partner networks.
“Aruba and Siemens can address customer requirements spanning pre-sales consulting and engineering, professional services (including project management, commissioning, factory acceptance testing, and design engineering), managed operations and maintenance services, and after-sales support.”
