• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe

Motion Control Tips

Automation • Motion Control • Power Transmission

  • News
    • Industry News
    • Editor Blogs
  • Controls
    • HMIs
    • PC-Based Controllers
    • PLCs + PACs
    • Stand-Alone Controllers
    • Software
  • Drives
    • Servo Drives
    • Stepper Drives
  • Encoders
    • Absolute Encoders
    • Incremental Encoders
    • Rotary Encoders
  • Mechanical
    • Bearings
    • Brakes + Clutches
    • Belt + chain
    • Couplings
    • Gears + Gearing
    • Lubrication
    • Shock + Vibration Mitigation
    • Springs + Rings + Seals
  • Linear
    • Actuators
    • Linear Motors
    • Linear Encoders
  • Motors
    • AC Motors
    • DC Motors
    • Brushless Motors
    • Gearmotors
    • Piezo Motors
    • Servo Motors
    • Stepper Motors
  • Systems
    • Conveyors + linear transport systems
    • Gantries + Stages
    • Rotary Tables
    • Grippers + End Effectors
    • Robotics
  • Networks
    • Connections + Sliprings
    • Fieldbuses
    • I/O
    • Sensors + Vision
  • Resources
    • FAQs
      • Motion Casebook
      • Motion Selection Guides
    • Suppliers
    • Video
You are here: Home / Featured / Interview: Rockwell and Design World talk IT/OT convergence

Interview: Rockwell and Design World talk IT/OT convergence

January 6, 2015 By Lisa Eitel Leave a Comment

Recently, I got the chance to attend the 2014 Automation Fair in Anaheim, California.  One of the big topics was the convergence of information technologies and operational technologies – IT and OT. The idea? Integrated platforms that connect enterprises (and their IT and OT) can boost productivity and product quality, especially for manufacturing and industrial OEM applications.

More recently, in a followup interview to get a bit more information about IT/OT convergence, I chatted with Matt Fordenwalt, global business manager of network and security services at Rockwell Automation. Fordenwalt leads Rockwell Automation’s global professional services business, and his team hopes to help engineers define overarching business problems and then provide architectures to address the issues. He has fifteen years of experience leading global companies through complex change.

Listen to the interview here.

Before his IT/OT convergence efforts, Fordenwalt worked as deployment leader for Rockwell’s own Global Process Transformation or GPT project — an internal effort by Rockwell to replace its own ‘legacy’ systems (read: homebrew hodgepodge) and standardize on SAP. That served as a proving ground and learning experience for Fordenwalt’s initiatives to sell connected-enterprise products today.

Most enlightening here are Fordenwalt’s responses to some questions I pose about the biggest challenges for manufacturers converging IT and OT; the security issues associated with convergence; and efforts by  Rockwell and Cisco’s Security Business Group to address potential issues.

For more information, here is a condensed summary by my colleague Miles Budimir of the Rockwell-Cisco partnership to offer connected-enterprise capabilities to design engineers.

You Might Also Like

Filed Under: Featured, Networking + IoT Tagged With: Rockwell Automation

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

LEARNING CENTER

Design World Learning Center

Motion Control Handbook

“mct
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, tools and strategies for Design Engineering Professionals.

RSS Featured White Papers

  • Robotic Automation is Indispensable for the Logistics Industry’s Continued Growth and Success
  • Reliable Linear Motion For Packaging Machines
  • Polymers Outperform Metals In Precision Gearing

Footer

Motion Control Tips

DESIGN WORLD NETWORK

Design World Online
The Robot Report
Coupling Tips
Linear Motion Tips
Bearing Tips
Fastener Engineering.
Wire and Cable Tips

MOTION CONTROL TIPS

Subscribe to our newsletter
Advertise with us
Contact us
About us

Copyright © 2025 · WTWH Media LLC and its licensors. All rights reserved.
The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media.

Privacy Policy | RSS