Success Stories #5
Bridging IT and OT Through Enterprise Governance and Operating Model Alignment
Unifying IT and OT to Enable Secure, Scalable Manufacturing Operations
A Disconnected IT and OT Landscape Without Unified Control
A global manufacturer operated fragmented IT and OT environments across plants, regions, and corporate teams—creating operational risk, inconsistent security, and misaligned decision-making. To address this, a unified governance framework, standardized processes, and a federated operating model were introduced—enabling secure collaboration, improved visibility, and scalable digital modernization.
Enterprise IT/OT
Governance Model
20+ Processes &
Standards Defined
Cybersecurity &
Risk Alignment
Federated Operating
Model Established
Challenges
A Fragmented IT/OT Environment Creating Risk and Misalignment...
Lack of governance, inconsistent standards, and cultural divides between IT and OT limited visibility, increased risk, and slowed enterprise transformation.
No defined framework existed for how IT and OT should collaborate across the enterprise.
Processes and standards varied widely across plants, regions, and corporate functions.
Lack of visibility into OT systems, lifecycle status, and associated risks.
Unclear roles and responsibilities led to inconsistent and uncoordinated decisions.
Increased IT/OT connectivity created growing security risks and vulnerabilities.
Differences between IT and OT teams created friction and slowed progress.
Triplett Services Founder Role
Establishing a Unified IT/OT Governance Model
Clif Triplett was engaged to rapidly construct a governance model that aligned corporate IT, regional leadership, and plant operations. His role focused on creating the processes, standards, and operating structures necessary to manage IT and OT collaboratively, while ensuring the model was practical, scalable, and accepted across the organization.
His mandate included:
Developing a comprehensive IT/OT governance framework
Facilitating workshops to align stakeholders and drive adoption
Creating foundational processes and standards for joint operations
Establishing clear roles, responsibilities, and decision rights
Introducing guiding principles for cybersecurity, architecture, and risk management
Supporting the organization in operationalizing the new governance model
Actions Taken:
Developing the Governance Framework
Triplett created a structured governance model that defined how corporate, regional, and plant teams would collaborate. This included decision making structures, escalation paths, and alignment mechanisms that ensured IT and OT operated as integrated partners.
Creating Foundational Processes and Standards
More than 20 process and standards documents were developed to guide joint IT/OT operations. These included principles for network segmentation, privileged access management, incident reporting, change control, and risk mitigation for single points of failure.
Introducing Market Based and Risk Based Models
He developed models to categorize manufacturing systems, assess lifecycle maturity, and identify critical assets. These models enabled the organization to prioritize investments, manage risk, and standardize technology decisions across plants.
Establishing Cybersecurity and Architecture Guidance
Triplett introduced guiding principles for Active Directory integration, DMZ design, network segmentation, and role based access control. These principles strengthened cybersecurity posture while respecting operational requirements unique to OT environments.
Facilitating Collaborative Workshops
He led a series of workshops with IT, OT, and plant leadership to socialize the governance model, refine processes, and build shared ownership. These sessions helped bridge cultural divides and ensured the framework reflected real operational needs.
Building a Federated Operating Model
Triplett developed a federated organization model that aligned corporate oversight with regional execution and plant level operational control. This model integrated industry recognized governance concepts, including the three lines of defense, to clarify responsibilities and strengthen accountability.
Outcome
From fragmentation to integrated it/ot collaboration, the engagement delivered a unified, scalable governance model that transformed how it and ot collaborated:
- A comprehensive IT/OT governance framework was established, providing clarity, structure, and shared operating principles
- More than 20 foundational processes and standards were created, enabling consistent execution across plants and regions
- A strong collaborative working relationship emerged between IT and OT, replacing prior friction with shared ownership
- Cybersecurity posture improved, supported by standardized architecture, access control, and risk mitigation practices
- The governance model was adopted enterprise wide, with the primary leader of the initiative promoted to oversee IT/OT convergence across all divisions
- The organization gained a sustainable foundation for digital modernization, operational resilience, and long term technology alignment
- A strong collaborative working relationship emerged between IT and OT, replacing prior friction with shared ownership