IT/OT convergence benefits and challenges explained

Why IT/OT convergence is a strategic business priority

"It's becoming table stakes to compete in any market," said Jonathan Lang, research manager of worldwide IT/OT strategies at IDC. IoT devices are getting smaller, smarter and easier to manage, making convergence viable for a much wider range of organizations than it was a few years ago.

Convergence has also become a governance and risk imperative. Some 42% of organizations now include IT/OT convergence in their enterprise risk strategy, according to the World Economic Forum's "Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026" report. Convergence makes operations more efficient, but it also expands the attack surface: More connections mean more ways in for cybercriminals. That's why convergence has moved from an IT-only initiative to a board-level priority.

The top benefits of IT/OT convergence

Convergence delivers gains across cost, performance and productivity:

• Lower operational costs. Sharing infrastructure means fewer systems to procure and maintain, freeing up data center and real estate space.
• Better performance. Combining IT and OT data produces more accurate KPIs and shared visibility. Edge AI lets teams analyze data close to where it's gathered, cutting cloud reliance and latency.
• Improved flexibility. Real-time data lets organizations react faster to market changes. Digital twins let teams test upgrades and predict maintenance before touching the production line.
• Enhanced training. Smart glasses give workers hands-free guidance from experts anywhere, offsetting some of the estimated $413 billion U.S. employers spend yearly on informal on-the-job training.
• Increased operational standards. Convergence extends IT best practices, such as patch management and asset tracking, to OT and consolidates functions into a single console.
• Enhanced security orchestration. Centralized monitoring enables security teams to integrate OT into an overall strategy rather than manage it separately.

The biggest IT/OT convergence challenges

Although IT/OT convergence has many benefits, it also comes with its challenges:

• Different team perspectives. IT expects frequent upgrades; OT is built to run for decades, where an unplanned change can jeopardize production.
• Limited joint management. Most companies lack shared governance for convergence, which leads to duplicate processes and mismatched architectures.
• Device communication challenges. Many edge devices support only one-way communication, have limited compute power or use protocols incompatible with IT networks.
• Scalability issues. Edge devices generate massive volumes of data, and IT teams often lack full visibility into their OT fleet, leaving them unprepared for the resulting load.
• Cybersecurity challenges. Older OT devices were rarely built with security in mind. Ransomware attacks against industrial organizations rose 64% in 2025, and manufacturing has been the most attacked sector for five straight years.
• The speed of IT's evolution. IT has moved quickly to as-a-service and cloud models, while OT remains built around closed, operations-centric systems, leaving a capability gap.
• Skill gaps and resource issues. High-skill roles, such as system architects and cybersecurity specialists, remain scarce. One tech leader described the right talent as "unicorns" in comments to Deloitte Insights.

How IT leaders can overcome IT/OT convergence challenges

The following are five best practices to ensure success:

Establish a unified IT/OT governance model

Define clear roles and responsibilities for convergence, covering processes, KPIs, data and security guidelines. Analysts increasingly frame this as a governance problem first: unified strategies need clear ownership of assets, identities and change control across IT, OT and third parties, according to Industrial Cyber. Pairing governance with early cross-training builds the trust IT and OT need to work as one team.

Standardize cybersecurity across IT and OT environments

IT and OT security standards can remain organizationally separate but should operate under a single model so that controls apply consistently across asset management, connectivity and incident response. Smart filtering and zero-trust authentication can flag anomalies and protect device communications.

This is no longer optional: Fortinet's 2025 "State of Operational Technology and Cybersecurity Report" found that half of organizations experienced at least one OT incident last year, and ownership has shifted to the chief information security officer or C-suite, rising to 52% from 16% in 2022. Frameworks such as IEC 62443, NIST 800-82 and the EU's NIS2 directive are becoming common reference points for auditable baselines, according to IIoT World.

Modernize infrastructure in phased increments

Skip the wholesale rip-and-replace. Apply IT best practices to expand what edge devices can do instead. Cloud data aggregation services, for example, can gather and analyze data from older OT devices, simulating newer hardware without a full fleet refresh.

Close IT/OT skills and training gaps

Short-term, project-based outsourcing can keep initiatives moving while hiring catches up. Training current employees in emerging technologies builds internal skills, and HR teams should broaden the search to adjacent backgrounds. Mentorship programs help attract talent without traditional OT entry points.

Build a scalable data and integration architecture

Start with an IT asset inventory to find where infrastructure is needed, which devices need replacing and where integration gaps remain. Intermediary infrastructure or cloud services can then manage data flow into the IT network, guided by a documented roadmap. Digital twins help teams surface failure points before they touch production.

Convergence is now a governance problem, not just a tech one

IT/OT convergence offers real benefits across the organization. Done well, it modernizes OT deployments, aligns them with IT best practices and delivers better productivity, transparency, lower costs and higher revenue. That said, convergence is now inseparable from cybersecurity risk management. More attackers treat the IT/OT boundary as their primary entry point, and regulators are formalizing expectations through frameworks like NIS2.

For IT leaders, the mandate is clear: Convergence is no longer a factory-floor project owned by operations or a security project owned by IT alone. It's a board-level priority touching governance, risk, talent and infrastructure planning at once. Organizations that treat governance, security and skills investment as one roadmap, not separate initiatives, will capture the upside without the downside.

Julia Borgini is a freelance technical copywriter, content marketer, content strategist and geek. She writes about B2B tech, SaaS, DevOps, the cloud and other tech topics.