Operational Technology Infrastructure

Services / Manufacturing Automation & Intelligence / Operational Technology Infrastructure

Operational Technology (OT) includes the devices and software used to control and monitor physical systems, from individual machines to plant-wide operations. PLCs, DCSs, BMSs, and SCADA systems depend on infrastructure that allows them to communicate and run reliably. Configuring that infrastructure requires an understanding of the processes it supports and how changes could affect production and cybersecurity.

DMC draws on decades of factory-floor experience to design and support OT infrastructure. Our industrial IT services cover the networking infrastructure, computing resources, and virtualization environments that connect your systems and support the applications your facility depends on.

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Industrial Network Design and Deployment

Intelligent manufacturing starts with a facility’s networking infrastructure. Designing networks for high-speed synchronous motion control, inter-building SCADA systems, and connectivity to enterprise or cloud systems requires extensive real-world experience. Our platform-agnostic approach allows us to develop industrial networking solutions suited to your application and integrate them with your existing systems.

We apply industry-standard design principles such as cell/area/zone separation and IT/OT convergence to organize how equipment communicates across your facility. The design accounts for current production requirements and future expansion as you add equipment or connect systems. Our projects range from networking within individual machines to designing OT main distribution frame (MDF) rooms that connect networks across an entire factory, with hardware and layouts selected for the application. Depending on your facility’s needs, designs may include fiber connectivity, industrial wireless networks, and redundancy to help maintain communication during equipment or connection failures.

OT and Enterprise Connectivity Services

Your production systems hold information that other teams need to plan and manage operations. DMC helps connect those systems with business applications so manufacturing data can be shared securely and used for day-to-day decisions.

These connections can bring together:

SCADA systems
Historians and production databases
ERP platforms for business planning
MES platforms for managing manufacturing operations
CRM platforms for customer information

Existing Network Support

DMC supports existing industrial networks ranging from single production lines to networks spanning multiple facilities. If your network has grown through equipment additions or changes over time, we begin by identifying connected devices and documenting how they communicate. Our engineers can visit your facility to audit the existing infrastructure, giving your team a clear reference for troubleshooting and planning future changes.

With the network documented, we can help resolve communication issues and update configurations as you introduce new production equipment. Support can range from help with a specific problem to an ongoing service agreement, depending on the level of assistance your team needs.

Software-Defined Network Management

Managing switches individually can become time-consuming as a network grows. Software-defined networking (SDN) provides a centralized interface for managing network configurations, making it easier to apply changes consistently across supported equipment.

The available features depend on the platform. Some controllers provide monitoring and access controls that can support a zero-trust approach, along with configuration records for troubleshooting and compliance reviews. These capabilities can help your team understand what has changed on the network and manage access as equipment and requirements evolve.

Computing & Virtualization Infrastructure Design

As you add applications for production monitoring and reporting, the computing infrastructure behind them needs to keep pace. DMC can evaluate where those applications should run and recommend resources based on their performance and availability requirements. We can then procure, configure, and maintain the infrastructure, from industrial PCs on the factory floor to virtual servers and suitable cloud environments.

Virtualization allows multiple applications to run in separate environments on shared server hardware. The appropriate setup depends on the applications involved and how they need to be maintained or recovered.

The examples below show how computing resources can support different needs across a facility:

Location	Hardware	Operating System(s)	Use
Factory Floor	Industrial PC (IPC)	– Windows – Linux	Standalone HMI application and other tertiary software.
Factory Floor	Thin Client	– Boot Loader	Remotely connect to ThinManager server and acquire configuration and resources. EG SCADA control.
Server Room	Rackmount Server	– VCenter – Hyper-V – Nutanix – Proxmox – Citrix	Several virtual machines used for SCADA, digital asset management, SQL Server replication, etc.
Cloud	NA	– Azure – AWS – GCP	Cloud-based offsite servers for KPI collection, reporting, and offsite data retention.

Operating System Upgrades and Migration

Aging hardware and outdated operating systems can make production applications harder to maintain or replace. DMC develops upgrade paths that account for software compatibility and your facility’s operating requirements, helping you plan the transition before equipment or support limitations force a change. We have experience upgrading legacy Windows systems to supported operating systems suitable for industrial applications. If an existing application cannot run on the replacement operating system, we can migrate it to a compatible version.

Applications we can upgrade or migrate include:

HMI & SCADA Systems

.NET applications

PLC Programming Software

NI TestStand

NI LabVIEW

When an operating system upgrade is not immediately practical, we can evaluate virtualization and backup options. Physical-to-virtual (P2V) migration can preserve an existing production environment without the initial development effort of a full application migration. This can provide an interim path away from aging hardware, though it does not resolve the support or security limitations of the legacy operating system.

For applications that do not need to remain on-site, physical-to-cloud (P2C) migration can reduce the amount of local server hardware your team maintains. DMC evaluates cloud environments around the application’s needs, including connectivity, availability, and access from multiple facilities.