Modernize Your Industrial Infrastructure for Cybersecurity and AI Readiness with Cisco Validated Designs

The need of examined and confirmed community architectures

Many industrial operations depend on networks supplied to them by their automation distributors. These default networks usually give attention to the fast, localized wants of particular gear or processes. Whereas they might be good at their meant perform, they incessantly fall brief when addressing the broader challenges of scale, safety, and innovation in trendy industrial environments. Such networks could not constantly provide the extent of cybersecurity wanted to guard all the operations and may additionally hinder fast adaptation to altering enterprise wants, incorporate new technological developments, or provide the extent of efficiency required for vital {industry} initiatives akin to utilities grid modernization or in manufacturing Trade 4.0 initiatives, together with AI.

Delaying modernization will increase the chance of great enterprise disruption and lack of market share to extra nimble rivals. For instance, in a survey, Oxford Economics estimates that the complete yearly price of downtime for the International 2000 firms is $400 billion, highlighting the significance of scalability, resiliency, and cybersecurity for contemporary digital operations which can be driving organizations to modernize their networking infrastructure.

What makes industrial community design difficult

And but, community modernization for key {industry} use instances just isn’t with out its challenges. Whereas navigating their modernization journey, industries want to deal with potential areas for optimization, together with incorporating the wants of each IT and OT groups, new abilities studying processes, and strong technical designs that guarantee peak efficiency and seamless operations for mission vital processes. Lowering danger, standardizing, and decreasing complexity is vital to maximise this funding and velocity time to worth in modernizing networks.

Whereas sharing some similarities with campus networks, industrial networks possess distinctive necessities and constraints that distinguish them. Industrial networks have to function reliably guaranteeing excessive availability in settings that contain excessive temperatures, excessive humidity, mud, vibration, and electromagnetic interference (EMI). Industrial operations demand stringent community efficiency, together with ultra-low latency, deterministic knowledge supply, and excessive reliability, to make sure seamless and protected operation of vital processes. Industrial networks should additionally defend operations as they’re more and more focused by subtle cyberattacks. Furthermore, these networks should be capable of work with a mixture of legacy techniques and trendy units working a number of particular industrial communications protocols.

Determine 1: Pattern validated community and safety design for manufacturing

For these causes, and since industrial operations are vital income producers for organizations, it’s vital that designing, deploying, and securing industrial networks is completed with examined and confirmed architectures that Cisco Industrial IoT CVDs present.

The worth of Cisco Validated Designs

Certainly, a novel a part of Cisco’s industrial portfolio are Cisco Validated Designs (CVDs). CVDs for Industrial IoT present pre-tested and confirmed options that may assist organizations navigate these challenges. CVDs assist each IT and OT groups construct abilities to allow them to take possession of their community and construct superior capabilities with out worry of integration complexities or efficiency surprises. As we speak, we now have a library of over 50 documented designs and architectures overlaying a variety of sectors, together with manufacturing, energy and water utilities, mining, ports and terminals, roadways and intersections, and public transportation.

Andrew Blair, the lead telecoms engineer for ScottishPower Renewables, defined the significance of a validated design: “The offshore atmosphere is a really distinctive place with very distinctive challenges. We’d like a tried and examined community infrastructure that covers all parts of our operations and upkeep and supplies a safe method for these parts to speak. And that’s precisely what Cisco developed with us for the Cisco Validated Design.”

CVDs present prospects with a trusted basis for constructing strong, environment friendly, and safe community options that meet their industry-specific efficiency and enterprise wants and embrace joint testing with key automation utility supplier options to make sure efficiency based on design. Thus, CVDs cut back techniques integration time and price, guarantee ecosystem interoperability, speed up deployment instances, and create a versatile basis for the longer term.

1. Set up belief: CVDs present prospects with the reassurance that the options are backed by in depth testing, have been confirmed to point out leads to manufacturing deployments globally, and are developed, validated, and totally supported by Cisco consultants
2. Observe a constant strategy: CVDs outline standardized architectures based mostly on confirmed Cisco enterprise and industrial networking, administration, and safety portfolios. By leveraging these designs, with their clear pointers and greatest practices, prospects can cut back the probability of surprising failures and downtimes
3. Tailor-made to industries: CVDs cowl practically all industrial sectors together with manufacturing, utilities, roadways and intersections, mining, oil & gasoline, and extra. And embrace all particular networking, administration, and safety concerns tailor-made to every sector’s distinctive wants
4. Stored updated: Cisco recurrently updates CVDs to include the newest applied sciences, safety enhancements, and {industry} requirements, guaranteeing prospects have entry to essentially the most present and related options
5. Speed up supply: By following CVDs, prospects can streamline their deployment processes, decreasing the time, sources, and expense wanted to implement complicated industrial networks
6. Customizable: CVDs allow prospects to implement tailor-made options that align with their distinctive operational necessities, even whereas offering a typical strong basis.
7. Facilitate IT/OT partnership: CVDs assist create a collaborative atmosphere between IT and OT, enabling extra streamlined and safe IT operations, whereas offering OT with examined, repeatable deployments.

Companion with Cisco to make your industrial networks future-ready

By leveraging Cisco Validated Designs, organizations can speed up their industrial digital transformation journey. CVDs assist streamline community design, cut back deployment danger, and enhance general operational efficiency and resiliency. From knowledge facilities and cloud to distant industrial websites, Cisco Validated Designs present a strong basis for constructing dependable, safe, and scalable networks. For additional assist, flick thru a library of our industrial CVDs, or schedule a free, no-obligation session with a Cisco industrial knowledgeable, and we’ll attain out to you.

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