Manufacturers and other industrial organizations today face many different challenges. These include the often-obsolete automation systems con-trolling the production processes in their brownfield plants. While the threat of system-related production interruptions and increased maintenance costs typically associated with obsolete technology certainly pose a risk to the business, this often is still not enough to justify upgrading the automation. So how should industry go about justifying these costly and often disruptive technology upgrades? ARC Advisory Group believes that the answer is to focus on the potential benefits that modern automation can bring to a business.

With all the hype surrounding the Industrial Internet of Things, cloud, and digital transformation, it still comes down to data.

Industrial IoT (IIoT) is “crossing the chasm” and moving beyond the early adapter stage into mainstream applications.

As the percentage of the power from largely intermittent renewable energy sources (wind, solar, hydro, etc.) gradually increases, electric grids – and microgrids in particular – will need increased electric storage capacities to help smooth out the grid supply.

Digitization offers the promise to connect everything on the plant floor. The emerging smart, connected plant will have an immense impact on production efficiency, but will also bring challenges.

Overall, automation supplier revenues ventured into positive territory during the second quarter of 2017.

Industrial control systems (ICS) cybersecurity has been a subject of discussion for several years.

The worldwide enterprise software market showed healthy growth in the third quarter of 2017.

Over the last several years, we’ve seen significant advances in and adoption of new automation technologies. ARC believes that, in 2018, we’ll see an acceleration in IT/OT convergence, proliferation of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-enabled solutions, cybersecurity, and continued movement on the Open Process Automation (OPA) front.