Wind River
Unify IT and OT for
Mission‑Critical Operations
Break down silos between operational technology and enterprise IT with a unified platform that automates lifecycle management, strengthens security and compliance, and accelerates innovation from edge to cloud.
What is IT/OT convergence?
IT/OT convergence is the integration of information technology systems and cloud platforms with operational technology environments such as Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems, embedded controllers, and sensors. It creates unified data and control fabric from device to cloud so teams can gain real-time visibility, orchestrate software and workloads consistently, and base decisions on a single source of truth.
When IT and OT converge, organizations can modernize without forcing a trade-off between IT’s need for speed and security and OT’s need for determinism, safety, and continuous operation.
Why it matters now
Industrial organizations are under pressure to improve resilience, lower costs, and launch new digital services while managing growing cyber and regulatory risk.
Common challenges include:
- Unplanned downtime that erodes profitability and impacts SLAs
- Manual, site-by-site updates that increase security risk and OpEx
- Data silos that limit predictive maintenance and real-time optimization
- Fragmented compliance processes that slow audits and raise exposure
- Organizational silos between IT and OT that delay modernization
Without a unified approach, IT/OT projects remain fragmented, fragile, and hard to scale.
Wind River’s point of view
The status quo—manual processes, stitched‑together tools, and separate IT and OT stacks—cannot deliver the agility and reliability of modern operations demand. Instead of assembling point solutions, organizations need a pre-integrated platform that spans embedded systems, intelligent edge, and cloud management with automation and assurance built in.
Wind River’s perspective: IT/OT convergence is not about choosing between IT agility and OT reliability, but achieving both through a unified, purpose-built stack that understands mission‑critical requirements end to end.
How Wind River enables IT/OT convergence
Full‑stack integration
Device to cloud platforms including: VxWorks (Real-time Operating System), Wind River Linux (Embedded Linux), eLxr Pro (Enterprise Linux) and Wind River Cloud Platform supported by Wind River Studio Tools including Wind River Conductor and Wind River Analytics that provide lifecycle management, orchestration and optimization support. These platforms and tools come pre‑integrated, reducing complexity, integration risk, and time-to-value compared to DIY multi‑vendor stacks.
Mission‑critical reliability
Platforms are designed for deterministic performance and safety-critical workloads, with certifications across aerospace, automotive, industrial, and telecom environments where downtime or failure is not an option.
Cultural bridge between IT and OT
Unified governance, role-based orchestration, and professional services help IT and OT teams work from a shared platform, shared policies, and shared KPIs such as downtime reduction, audit readiness, and time-to-deploy.
Ecosystem power without lock‑in
Open standards (Linux, containers, Kubernetes) and integrations with ITSM platforms and cloud providers provide flexibility and choice while Wind River delivers a single orchestration and assurance layer.
Typical outcomes include reduced unplanned downtime, faster and safer updates, shorter compliance cycles, lower operational costs, and faster time-to-market for new digital services.
Key Use Cases
Manufacturing production optimization
Automate patching and updates for PLCs, sensors, and robotics; gain real‑time visibility into asset health; and centralize compliance attestation across plants to move from reactive maintenance to predictive operations.
Automotive & transportation fleet software
Deliver secure OTA updates at scale, monitor fleet health and update status in real time, and use predictive analytics to reduce warranty costs and recall risk across mixed vehicle platforms.
Energy & telecom edge infrastructure
Centrally manage hundreds or thousands of distributed edge sites, automate orchestration and failover, and enforce consistent security and compliance policies across legacy and cloud‑native environments.
Partners
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Navigating the Next Generation of Software-Defined Assets and Automation
Today, IT and OT systems in industrial operations are run and managed separately. In the future, the convergence of IT and OT will unlock the next generation of industrial automation.
Please fill out this form to check out our IT/OT spotlight paper