A Practical Framework to Turn IoT Technology Into Operational Capability
capabilities.” 10 The I2OC framework address
the usage scenarios.
operational capability. “Key objectives are
quantifiable high-level technical and
ultimately business outcomes expected of
the resultant system in the context of
delivering the values. Key objectives should
be measurable and time-bound. Senior
business and technical leaders develop the
key objectives. Fundamental capabilities
refer to high-level specifications of the
essential ability of the system to complete
specific major business tasks. Key objectives
are the basis for identifying the fundamental
capabilities.” 13
“The functional viewpoint focuses on the
functional components in an IIoT system,
their structure and interrelation, the
interfaces and interactions between them,
and the relation and interactions of the
system with external elements in the
environment, to support the usages and
activities of the overall system.” 11
Integration and interoperability between
OT, IT and business applications is a key part
of turning IoT technology into operational
capability. The I2OC framework describe the
high-level functional requirements for this
integration.
T HE I2OC F RAMEWORK
The I2OC framework combines a high-level
IoT solution architecture with business
outcomes and an implementation viewpoint
to facilitate the collaboration of business, IT
and OT. It is based on a value chain that
starts with industrial assets and ends with
desired business outcomes.
“The implementation viewpoint deals with
the technologies needed to implement
functional
components
(functional
viewpoint), their communication schemes
and their lifecycle procedures. These
elements are coordinated by activities
(usage viewpoint) and support the system
capabilities (business viewpoint).” 12 The
I2OC framework provides high-level
guidance on the technology approach for the
integration of OT, IT and business
applications into existing workflows or new
business processes.
The value chain of the framework starts by
defining the operational assets that impact
the business outcomes for a specific scenario
or use case. It could be a single asset such as
a fin fan in a refinery, a collection of similar
assets such as wind turbines in a geographic
region or a complex system such as a CHPP
(coal handling and processing plant) in a coal
mine.
Two further concepts from the IIRA business
viewpoint are used in the development of
the framework to turn IoT technology into
10 https://www.iiconsortium.org/IIC_PUB_G1_V1.80_2017-01-31.pdf (page 16)
11 https://www.iiconsortium.org/IIC_PUB_G1_V1.80_2017-01-31.pdf (page 16)
12 https://www.iiconsortium.org/IIC_PUB_G1_V1.80_2017-01-31.pdf (page 16)
13 https://www.iiconsortium.org/IIC_PUB_G1_V1.80_2017-01-31.pdf (page 21)
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