A Guide of What to Consider When Keeping Operational Technology (OT) Protected
Picture your worst Monday morning: The production line that normally hums with the precision of a Swiss watch has ground to a halt. Your HMI screens are blank, and somewhere, an industrial computer has stopped responding. In the world of Operational Technology (OT), this isn't just an inconvenience – it's a critical situation that demands immediate attention and could seriously impact your organization's bottom line.
The True Cost of Unprotected OT
Let's talk real numbers that highlight the gravity of OT protection. We recently spoke to a customer in the automotive industry who shared a sobering reality: their downtime costs reach approximately $15,000 per minute. That's roughly the price of a decent new car evaporating every sixty seconds their systems are down. And here's the kicker - industry studies suggest this might actually be on the conservative side. In the auto industry as a whole, downtime costs can soar to about $50,000 per minute.
Consider what this means in practice: When production lines go down for just an hour, we're talking about $3 million in losses – and this isn't just an automotive headache, every operational technology industry faces similar costly downtime challenges.
But here's the thing about OT environments - they encompass far more than just control systems. From paint plant visualization stations and quality assurance computers to complex SCADA systems monitoring robotics and assembly lines, these industrial computers form the backbone of modern manufacturing. And they're not your typical IT systems - they operate in harsh conditions where downtime isn't just an inconvenience, it's a direct threat to production and safety. From lightning-fast recovery times to managing legacy systems older than some of your junior engineers, OT protection requires careful consideration.
Lightning-Fast Backup and Recovery: Because Time Really Is Money
When your production line goes down, counting recovery time in hours isn't just inconvenient – it's catastrophic. This is where your backup and recovery solution needs to shine. Modern OT environments require recovery capabilities that can get systems back online in minutes, not hours.
But it's not all about speed - there are three non-negotiable priorities here: lightning-fast restore speed (because every minute costs you), rock-solid reliability (because a failed restore is twice as slow), and intuitive usability (because nobody wants to be thumbing through a user manual while the production line is down). Disruptions are a fact of life in industrial settings, so you need a solution that will get you back up and running quickly and reliably every time. Additionally, smart features can make your life even easier - resumable imaging handles those inevitable network hiccups, while intelligent file filtering can speed up processes by backing up only what matters to your recovery.
Supply Chain Security: Know Where Your Data Lives
With new regulations such as NIST and NIS2, it's no longer enough to just keep your data backed up – you need to know exactly where it resides and who might have access to it. Think about it: Your manufacturing processes and industrial designs aren't just data points, they're your competitive advantage. Do you really want that information sitting in a data center owned by nations with conflicting geopolitical interests?
This brings up some serious security concerns around backup hosted cloud storage. Sure, the cloud is a convenient option for your 3-2-1 backup strategy, but have you considered where that cloud actually lives and who's guarding the gates? It's like trusting your prized family recipe to a complete stranger's kitchen - you might get a delicious meal out of it, but you also risk your secret ingredients ending up in the wrong hands. No wonder so many companies are making a U-turn back to on-premises storage for both security and recovery time objective (RTO) reasons. There's just something reassuring about knowing your data is safe and sound under your own watchful eye.
With increasing emphasis on supply chain security, businesses need to look beyond backup features and examine their vendors' foundations – their corporate roots, compliance standards, and regulatory alignments. The right backup provider should naturally align with your organization's regulatory requirements and security standards. This means having confidence in where your data resides and understanding how it's protected. Some providers even offer open-source solutions, giving organizations unprecedented transparency and control over their backup processes.
Legacy Systems: Protecting Your Trusted Workhorses
That Windows XP machine controlling your production line isn't there because someone forgot to upgrade. It's there because it works, it's validated, and replacing it would require significant investment and downtime. In fact, a staggering 74% of manufacturing and engineering companies continue to use legacy systems. In OT environments, stability isn't just preferred – it's essential. Your backup and recovery solution needs to understand this reality. You need a partner with proven experience in OT environments, and one that understands the need for stability in your operations. And when you're dealing with legacy systems from all corners of the globe, sometimes without support from the original manufacturers, you need a provider that can create full system images. Your solution should be able to restore these legacy systems to different hardware when needed, allowing you to re-use equipment and lower TCO. And your partner should have specific license models designed for industrial operations – one that understands why you need controlled, security-focused updates rather than constant feature changes."
The Big Picture: Centralized Control in a Distributed World
OT systems rarely exist in one neat location. Your infrastructure might span multiple sites, buildings, or even continents. This is where having a centralized view becomes crucial. Your backup solution needs to give you a clear picture of all of your backups , regardless of where the computers reside. It's essential for ensuring full compliance, even if a machine fails to back up, no matter where it's located. Imagine being able to manage backups and recoveries for your entire OT infrastructure from a single console, scheduling backups around production windows, and monitoring the protection status of every critical system. But efficiency is key, especially when dealing with limited backup windows between production runs. You need a solution that can reliably back up everything within these tight timeframes.
This isn't just convenient – it's essential for maintaining consistent protection across your entire operation. With a distributed OT environment, you need a solution that's smart enough to work around your schedule, reliable enough to get the job done right every time, and gives you the peace of mind of knowing you've got full compliance covered – in one centralized view.
Looking Forward
Protecting OT infrastructure requires more than just regular backups. It demands a solution that understands the unique challenges of industrial operations and provides the specific capabilities needed to address them. From rapid recovery capabilities that minimize costly downtime to comprehensive legacy system support, your backup solution needs to align with the realities of OT environments. And let's not forget the challenges of working in complex, secure network architectures like the Purdue model or its modern equivalents. You need a backup solution that can seamlessly navigate these intricate environments, without requiring a million extra open ports or a novel's worth of security change requests. As you evaluate your OT protection strategy, remember that every minute of downtime has real financial implications. Choose a backup solution that not only understands these challenges but is specifically designed to address them. Your production line – and your bottom line – will thank you.
Partnering with the Right Provider
Partnering with a backup and recovery provider like Macrium offers organizations solutions to address these OT-specific challenges. Their new product, Reflect X, offers backup and recovery speeds up to 2x faster than its predecessor, along with resumable imaging technology to ensure backup completion in demanding environments. Intelligent file filtering allows organizations to focus solely on critical operational data, further optimizing backup speed and efficiency. Support for systems ranging from early Windows versions through to modern ARM-based machines enables protection across diverse OT infrastructures.
The Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) model provides enhanced stability by delivering only essential security patches rather than feature updates, minimizing disruption to critical OT environments. Additionally, Macrium's commitment to transparency is demonstrated through their open-source backup format, allowing organizations to verify and validate their backup processes firsthand. This comprehensive approach helps ensure backup and recovery capabilities remain consistent, reliable, and trustworthy in OT environments where system stability is paramount.
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