In this presentation, Hersh Sangvi from NetFoundry demonstrates how Operational Technology (OT) product builders can embed zero-trust connectivity directly into their devices. This built-in secure networking bypasses the traditionally slow and complex IT security approvals required by customers, allowing OT vendors to seamlessly and securely access their deployed products remotely. By utilizing automated, "just-in-time" access, companies can quickly troubleshoot hardware, ensure regulatory compliance, and significantly reduce the operational costs associated with on-site visits.

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Three Key Takeaways:

  • Overcoming Traditional Connectivity Bottlenecks: Relying on traditional VPNs or navigating a customer's internal IT and security processes can delay deployments and troubleshooting by weeks or months. By embedding secure connectivity directly into the product, vendors avoid these hurdles and drastically reduce the need for expensive on-site visits ("truck rolls").

  • Just-in-Time, Least-Privilege Access: The demonstration highlights a highly secure, automated workflow for remote troubleshooting. A support engineer is granted temporary access to specific customer resources only after a support ticket is approved. Once the task is complete and the ticket is closed, access is instantaneously revoked, ensuring strict security boundaries are maintained.

  • Driving Compliance and New Revenue Streams: Operating with secure-by-design connectivity makes it much easier to comply with strict, incoming cybersecurity regulations (such as the CRA). Furthermore, reliable remote access enables OT builders to launch new, revenue-generating services for their customers, such as proactive maintenance and AI-driven analytics.

OT Product Builder Demo

OT Product Builder - Pain Points Resolved

  1. Sales, deployment, consumption velocity
    Enterprise IT/cybersecurity requirements and processes can take weeks/months to enable the connectivity required for connected OT products to be demo’d, deployed and put in operations by the customers.

  2. High OPEX
    Legacy connectivity solutions are complex to maintain and require dedicated team of experts to troubleshoot network issues. Lack of reliable connectivity results in more frequent onsite visits to resolve product issues v/s being able to troubleshoot and remediate remotely.

  3. Customer Satisfaction
    Network connectivity issues are viewed by customers as product issues and impacts their overall satisfaction with your products and services.

  4. Revenue stagnation
    Lack of reliable, consistent and secure connectivity prohibits OT product builders from providing value added products and services to increase their book of business with existing customers.

  5. Regulatory Compliance
    Current and upcoming compliance requirements mandate that connect OT products must be ‘secure by design’ and must work securely even if the underlying customer network is not secure (e.g. CRA, NERC-CIP etc)

  6. Lack of visibility
    Disconnected OT product builders are blind to how their products are being utilized and can be potentially improved