Operational Visibility: The Foundation of Secure Manufacturing

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In manufacturing environments, you can't secure what you don't know. This reality becomes increasingly alarming when we consider that only 5% of organizations have complete visibility of their OT systems within their centralized cybersecurity operations – a figure that has declined from 10% in 2023, according to recent reports.

The lack of an up-to-date OT inventory and overall visibility doesn't just 'hide' security vulnerabilities; it fundamentally undermines operational excellence.

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The Manufacturing Blindspot Challenge

The manufacturing floor has evolved from isolated systems into complex interconnected environments, creating critical blindspots:

• Unidentified Access Points: Around 40% of control systems have direct access from enterprise networks (KPMG, 2024), significantly increasing risk exposure through inadequate OT network access control.
• Shadow OT: Undocumented devices and legacy systems create operational inefficiencies that manifest as unexpected downtime and troubleshooting challenges, highlighting the need for comprehensive OT asset inventory management.
• Compliance Uncertainty: With evolving regulations like NIS2 and standards like ISA/IEC 62443, incomplete visibility makes industrial cybersecurity compliance verification impossible.

The consequences are tangible: Last year, 55% of organizations experienced productivity disruptions due to OT security intrusions, directly impacting production and profitability.

How Visibility Drives Operational Excellence

Comprehensive real-time OT asset monitoring creates a foundation for operational excellence in several key ways:

• Faster Troubleshooting: Complete visibility allows teams to quickly identify root causes when production issues arise, reducing costly downtime through efficient industrial system log analysis.
• Optimized Maintenance: Visibility enables condition-based maintenance rather than calendar-based approaches, reducing unnecessary maintenance activities while preventing failures – a key component of manufacturing cybersecurity best practices.
• Effective Resource Allocation: Understanding actual resource utilization prevents both overprovisioning (wasting capital) and underprovisioning (creating bottlenecks), which is essential for protecting critical infrastructure.
• Performance Benchmarking: With visibility across multiple production lines or facilities, organizations can identify performance variations and consistently implement best practices, supporting OT business continuity strategies.

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Building Operational Visibility: Starting with Inventory

Visibility is fundamentally about knowing what you have. Ensuring you have complete visibility of your OT assets in real time allows you to monitor two crucial aspects:

1. Performance: Is everything operating as expected?
2. Security: Is everything properly protected?

These insights provide a clear view of your environment and help define the correct architectural and security blueprint for your future. With substantial inventory, monitoring, and architectural governance, you can take the next steps in maturing your OT environment's security.

Organizations implementing comprehensive visibility often see significant reductions in troubleshooting time while improving overall equipment effectiveness—key metrics that demonstrate the ROI of manufacturing cybersecurity.

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Moving Forward: From Visibility to Value

The decline in OT visibility (from 10% to 5%) indicates that many organizations are falling behind as their environments grow more complex. Organizations that establish comprehensive visibility gain competitive advantages through faster recovery from disruptions, more efficient resource utilization, and more substantial industrial cybersecurity risk insight and actionability.

The approach should be methodical but not overwhelming. Many organizations succeed by starting with critical production areas and expanding systematically, building on early wins as part of their broader digital transformation security roadmap.