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Cisco just introduced a set of new vertical industry solutions and a security solution tailored for the IIoT. I’m going to discuss the new “Smart Connected Pipeline” solution, which is being brought to market in partnership with Schneider Electric.
Linear Assets Require Remote Management
A pipeline is a linear asset, and these have always been the sweet spot for SCADA automation systems. Therefore remote (via network) operation and management has always been the norm for “things” like pipelines. Today pipeline owner-operators have growing concerns about both physical and network security. As a result, one requirement for many new and upgraded installations is a fully
functional backup control center in case the primary control center fails.
Creating two fully functional control centers in different locations has driven some innovative thinking for pipelines. Willbros Group presented this story of such a pipeline project in 2013 at the ARC Forum. The project illustrates an earlier version of the pipeline architecture that Cisco and Schneider Electric have jointly developed and just announced.
Another challenge to integration of pipelines is the diversity of automation equipment. Besides RTUs, they will include PLCs, some continuous controls, specialized controls, and complex rotating equipment like compressors. This integration is really the bread-and-butter for Schneider Electric, who have integrated the many companies they have acquired in recent years via their EcoStruxure architecture.
“We have been doing that for years”
That statement is one of the rejoinders one often hears about the IIoT; that it is really not all that new. In my personal archives I have a slide set that shows an Internet-based solution for remote machine diagnostics and service…from the year 2004. And long before 2004 there were dial-up service solutions for complex equipment like a DCS. SCADA systems have been used for decades. What is so different about today's new systems?
Two things are really quite different. The first is that the cost and complexity of setting up a highly secure network is much more reasonable today than in (for example) 2004. I’ll spare you the details, but that old 2004 remote machine service solution, while quite secure, was anything but simple. Second, the cyber threat landscape has expanded beyond recognition. In 2004 manufacturers and owner-operators may have been concerned about the security of a remote party accessing their machines for diagnostics and service, but otherwise they believed their factory floor was largely immune to attacks from the Internet. Today, the situation is almost reversed. All types of manufacturers know that their machines are prime targets for industrial espionage and even cyber warfare. So they aren't concerned with a security architecture merely for remote access, they need all-encompassing industrial network security for their own peace of mind.
This year ARC has spent a good deal of our time helping our end user clients assess the readiness of their production systems for the changes they anticipate the IIoT will bring. The new smart pipeline reference model is an example of what these end users have in mind as an objective. It will take some of them a while to get there. But the need for (physical and network) security everywhere and the need for flexible remote operation and management are common threads that we will see across many different industries.
Linear Assets Require Remote Management
A pipeline is a linear asset, and these have always been the sweet spot for SCADA automation systems. Therefore remote (via network) operation and management has always been the norm for “things” like pipelines. Today pipeline owner-operators have growing concerns about both physical and network security. As a result, one requirement for many new and upgraded installations is a fully
functional backup control center in case the primary control center fails.
Creating two fully functional control centers in different locations has driven some innovative thinking for pipelines. Willbros Group presented this story of such a pipeline project in 2013 at the ARC Forum. The project illustrates an earlier version of the pipeline architecture that Cisco and Schneider Electric have jointly developed and just announced.
Another challenge to integration of pipelines is the diversity of automation equipment. Besides RTUs, they will include PLCs, some continuous controls, specialized controls, and complex rotating equipment like compressors. This integration is really the bread-and-butter for Schneider Electric, who have integrated the many companies they have acquired in recent years via their EcoStruxure architecture.
“We have been doing that for years”
That statement is one of the rejoinders one often hears about the IIoT; that it is really not all that new. In my personal archives I have a slide set that shows an Internet-based solution for remote machine diagnostics and service…from the year 2004. And long before 2004 there were dial-up service solutions for complex equipment like a DCS. SCADA systems have been used for decades. What is so different about today's new systems?
Two things are really quite different. The first is that the cost and complexity of setting up a highly secure network is much more reasonable today than in (for example) 2004. I’ll spare you the details, but that old 2004 remote machine service solution, while quite secure, was anything but simple. Second, the cyber threat landscape has expanded beyond recognition. In 2004 manufacturers and owner-operators may have been concerned about the security of a remote party accessing their machines for diagnostics and service, but otherwise they believed their factory floor was largely immune to attacks from the Internet. Today, the situation is almost reversed. All types of manufacturers know that their machines are prime targets for industrial espionage and even cyber warfare. So they aren't concerned with a security architecture merely for remote access, they need all-encompassing industrial network security for their own peace of mind.
This year ARC has spent a good deal of our time helping our end user clients assess the readiness of their production systems for the changes they anticipate the IIoT will bring. The new smart pipeline reference model is an example of what these end users have in mind as an objective. It will take some of them a while to get there. But the need for (physical and network) security everywhere and the need for flexible remote operation and management are common threads that we will see across many different industries.