OT (Operational Technology)

Operational technology refers to the hardware and software systems used to monitor and control physical equipment and industrial processes — the machinery running a power plant, a water treatment facility, a manufacturing line, or an electrical grid. This includes systems like SCADA, industrial control systems (ICS), and the programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and sensors that make up a facility's physical control layer.

OT is distinct from IT, which manages data, computing, and communication for business operations rather than physical processes. The distinction matters because the two environments optimize for different things: IT generally prioritizes confidentiality and data integrity, while OT prioritizes availability and safety — a control system failure can mean a physical outage, equipment damage, or a safety incident, not just downtime. OT systems also tend to run on far longer hardware lifecycles than IT (sometimes decades), which shapes how they can be updated, patched, or connected to other networks.