By Jose Rivera
The 2022 CSIA Executive Conference in Sight
Monica Saunders (CSIA meeting manager) and I travelled to Denver for our pre-event site visit. It is hard to believe that it was close to 3 years since our last visit. It was great to see that the hotel and the city remain as vibrant as before, not to mention the sunny weather. I took the light rail service from the airport to Union Station (a pleasant 40-minute ride, $10.50/each way). I could have taken the “Free Mall Ride” (a bus line that would have brought me 2 blocks from the hotel), but I opted to walk (19 minute) to the hotel as the weather was so nice.
Welcome Reception and Baseball
The 2022 CSIA Executive Conference Welcome Reception / Opening Toast will take place at Coors Field (home of the Colorado Rockies baseball team) before the start of the game. We inspected the area designated for our reception and were impressed. We are very lucky to have a game that night, and I’m sure that we will enjoy it. This will be a memorable conference opener.
|
|
Advantages of a Smart MQTT Broker |
|
By Xavier Mesrobian
MQTT is becoming a popular protocol for industrial IoT data. Developed for connecting remote devices to a central server, it is lightweight, efficient, and secure.
However, IoT implementations are growing larger and more complex, and demand is increasing for OT/IT connectivity. MQTT is now being called on to aggregate and send diverse collections of data values over increasingly complex network topologies.
To meet these challenges MQTT must get smarter. As a transport protocol, MQTT specifies that messages are simply carried — not read — like a letter in the post. But that doesn't have to be the case. What would happen if the letter carrier could read the mail? What if we gave an MQTT broker the ability to parse the messages it carries? It would be able to handle messages more intelligently and include some information on the status of the data source or quality of the connection.
|
|
By Lisa Richter
In no order, a few sundries:
-
Was it something I said: If you are a current CSIA member and you haven’t renewed yet, you will be dropped like it’s hot any day now! The primary contact on the account can go to controlsys.org, log in and take care of it. Or send me an email and I’ll help you a convenient way to send me money!
-
Uh oh, did someone just take your spot? If you haven’t locked in your expo space at the 2022 CSIA Executive Conference act now to avoid disappoint. The deadline is April 25 and as I am writing this, there are only a handful of spots left. [Members only.]
-
Check your junk: I’m noticing more legit email is getting trapped in spam folders lately – so please check yours and whitelist any CSIA emails. Thank you!
-
Love letters: Talking Industrial Automation was included on not one, but two lists of top podcasts from LinkedIn connections!
Questions? Send me an email, I’m here for it.
|
|
Industrial Edge Devices Simplify ICS/OT Cybersecurity |
|
By Josh Eastburn
Traditional approaches to securing automation networks — like air gapping, VLANs, or IP filtering — complicate efforts to build connected systems and share operational data. By contrast, industrial edge computing devices, like edge controllers, I/O systems, and gateways, simplify those efforts by allowing you to embed essential security functions directly into the customer’s process.
Here are five critical security methods edge devices typically support.
User Authentication
Just like your computer or bank account, industrial edge devices can require users to identify themselves using a unique username and password before they can access the device or anything it protects. Edge devices can provide services for creating and managing users as well as related parameters like session timeouts and access levels.
Authentication may happen through either a local username/password combination, an LDAP server connection, or an API token, but make sure you don’t use a username and password that someone could easily guess or find on the internet.
|
|
About Fortress and the Asset to
Vendor (A2V) Network and Library
|
|
By Gonda Lamberink
Fortress Information Security now secures 40% of the U.S. power grid and is quickly expanding into other critical infrastructure sectors including electric power, oil and gas, aerospace and defense, industrial automation, commercial facilities, life sciences, healthcare, and transportation.
Fortress is the only company that connects IT & OT assets and vendors with a holistic cyber-supply chain risk management approach and unique solution.
Asset to Vendor Network
In 2019, Fortress Information Security, in collaboration with American Electric Power and Southern Company, launched the Asset to Vendor Network (A2V) to establish a community of critical infrastructure stakeholders that share supply chain cybersecurity and compliance assessment, risk, and intelligence data to secure critical infrastructure and supply chains that deliver IT, OT, and other mission-critical systems and services.
|
|
Professional Liability Defined and Yes, Cyber Again |
|
By Jeff Forbes
A brief cover of two topics in this article.
Do I have Professional Liability or Technology Errors and Omissions Coverage?
Integrators know that they must carry “professional” liability to protect their business and assets. If not for these reasons, their clients almost always require it.
But there are different types of coverage forms in the marketplace. You may be written on a professional liability form, or your policy may cover technology errors and omissions (tech E&O). Very few forms available cover both.
What’s the difference and Why You Need Them
Tech E&O generally refers to computer and electronic technology services performed for others for a fee, including data processing, computer systems analysis, technology consulting, custom software programming for a specific client, computer and software systems installation and integration, computer and software support, and network management.
|
|
Helping you Engage More Strategically with your Clients’ Manufacturing Business Transformation |
|
CESMII — the Smart Manufacturing Institute — has launched a set of tools available for you to help your manufacturing clients accelerate adoption and productivity improvements. Engage with them to take that first step with this free "Business Practices Assessment" to map out their current state – in their industrial transformation journey.
These tools are designed to help manufacturers align the business strategy, technology-enabled practices, and establish or reassess an innovation roadmap that leads to higher levels of operational performance and customer service.
Demonstrate your position as a trusted advisor working with these highly credible, vendor-agnostic tools from CESMII, facilitating value-based conversations with your existing and prospective manufacturing clients.
This process is designed to get past that “single project” mentality and map out their multi-faceted smart manufacturing journey.
|
|
Empower Your Business through Automation |
|
By Bryan Powrozek and Elly Mioduszewski
Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is an effective way for businesses to reinforce practices that work and filter out those that don’t. It is more important than ever to give a business every chance to succeed, especially as the economic effects of the pandemic linger. Utilizing KPIs, dashboards, forecasting, and analytics can help businesses gain a competitive edge in the market.
The Role of Dashboards
Dashboards can be an effective tool for organizing important real-time KPI results, visualizing complex data analytics, and illustrating predictive forecasting — all in one place. This concentration of reports can be easily shared, which promotes collaboration and harmony across business teams.
|
|
Here’s your quarterly roundup of recent content you may have missed. |
|
Talking Industrial Automation Podcast
If you are a podcast fan, you’ll want to check out CSIA’s Talking Industrial Automation. Some of the latest episodes include:
-
Episode 62: Adrian Fahey of SAGE Group explains how he and his team built a resilient company that offers a comprehensive suite of industrial digitalization solutions.
-
Episode 63: Kerry Grimes recounts how his career path brought him to his current role where he leads the company’s worldwide sales and go-to-market strategy for all Aveva partners.
-
Episode 64: Bob Vavra of Endeavor Business Media reveals how he has ridden the wave of digital transformation in publishing and what trends he sees in his unique position as a conduit for the industry.
-
Episode 65: Tor-Inge Eriksen of Clarify explains how his startup combines human context and industrial data for daily decisions.
|
|
Business and Technical Webinars
CSIA members share their expertise in these free virtual event recordings. (You do not need to be a member to access most of the following content, but you will need to register with the site.)
Interested in being a podcast guest or guest blogger? Both are available to member organizations that have upgraded to a Gold Profile. Contact Lisa Richter to learn how you can take advantage of these opportunities to position your C-suite as thought leaders.
|
|
By Lisa Richter
The past few months have been active on the M&A front for the industrial automation industry with the following transactions:
-
CSIA member Red Lion Controls acquired MB connect line. The press release has more details.
-
The Reynolds Company acquired Mid-Coast Electric Supply Inc. Read more in the press release.
If you have M&A information that has been made public, contact Lisa Richter for consideration in the next issue. Disclaimer: M&A Corner is not intended to be a source for breaking news but a place to get caught up on recent deals.
|
|
LATAM Update / Noticias de LATAM |
|
 |
Innovation Is Always Important
By Carolina Casas Anzola
The world can change seemingly overnight, and the business world is no different. The Covid-19 pandemic proved this to us. Many business trends are around for years, bubbling beneath the surface while the innovators get rich, before they are adopted by the masses, and many businesses lose out. For example, many of the business owners who were not aligned with trends that have existed for years, such as e-commerce, sadly crashed and burned when Covid-19 hit.
|
|
|
|
La Innovación Siempre es Importante
Por Carolina Casas Anzola
El mundo puede cambiar aparentemente de la noche a la mañana, y el mundo de los negocios no es diferente. La pandemia de Covid-19 nos lo demostró. Muchas tendencias comerciales existen desde hace años, burbujeando bajo la superficie mientras los innovadores se enriquecen, antes de que sean adoptadas por las masas y muchas empresas pierden. Por ejemplo, muchos de los dueños de negocios que no estaban alineados con las tendencias que han existido durante años, como el comercio electrónico, lamentablemente colapsaron cuando llegó el Covid-19.
|
|
|
|
Did you know that CSIA can help you get published in the trade press? Get your expertise noticed by potential clients when you take advantage of the media opportunities that come with your CSIA membership.
Browse upcoming opportunities here. [Members only]
|
|
Date: Wednesday, April 20
Time: 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. (CT)
Date: Wednesday, May 4
Time: 10 a.m. - 11 a.m. (CT)
|
|
Connect with us on LinkedIn! |
|
Looking for even more ways to stay involved with CSIA and get the most out of your membership?
Follow us on LinkedIn and stay in the know on the latest CSIA and general system integrator news!
|
|
Thank you to our 2022 Sponsors! |
|
Stay in the know on the latest CSIA and industry news. Follow us on social media! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
