If you’ve been following IT/OT Insider, you know we don’t believe in buzzwords or off-the-shelf answers when it comes to manufacturing digitalization. In this special episode of the IT/OT Insider Podcast, we’re stepping out of our usual interviews to announce something we’ve been working on behind the scenes for quite a while: our ITOT.Academy !
(and we’re super excited to tell you more!)
The short version?
It’s live, it’s happening, and you can already sign up at ITOT.Academy. But if you want to know the full story and why we believe you should register, read on (or watch the video/podcast).
Why we built the ITOT.Academy
Over the past years of writing, podcasting, and talking to hundreds of you working at the intersection of IT and OT, one theme kept coming back: people are looking for practical guidance, not theory. They want to learn how to bridge IT and OT, but not through another long, generic training full of buzzwords or vendor pitches.
“We kept hearing: this content is great, but where can I actually learn this in a structured way?”
We’ve spoken to:
Engineers on the shop floor, who run into integration problems every day.
IT teams, who want to better understand the operational side of the business.
Consultants, who need frameworks and language to help guide their customers.
Technology vendors, who are building tools but want to understand their customers’ real-world challenges.
What everyone had in common: they are all looking for concrete, vendor-neutral, experience-based guidance on how to make IT/OT collaboration work.
It’s not about convergence
The ITOT.Academy focuses on collaboration rather than abstract convergence. We believe that real change happens when people from IT and OT understand each other's world and learn how to work together.
For OT teams, it’s about understanding how IT thinks, how projects are run, and how to speak the same language when working with data, security, and architecture.
For IT teams, it’s about understanding the realities of production lines, control systems, and what "real-time" means on the factory floor.
This is not about replacing anyone’s job. It’s about giving both sides enough understanding to have productive conversations and to jointly solve problems.
Who is it for?
The program is designed for:
Manufacturing professionals in both OT and IT roles.
Consultants and system integrators looking to sharpen their frameworks.
Technology vendors who want to better support their customers’ IT/OT integration journey.
Anyone working on digitalization of manufacturing operations and looking for a structured approach.
The format: short, live, interactive
"You can’t learn this by watching videos at double speed while you check your email."
Let’s be clear. This is not another library of pre-recorded videos you can speed up while checking your email. This is live, virtual, interactive, and designed for people who are busy.
6 sessions, each 2 hours long.
Spread across several weeks, so you have time to absorb and apply what you learn.
Global groups, timed to work for both Europe/Asia and US time zones.
Small groups to enable real interaction, discussions, and peer learning.
The first 3 sessions cover the core frameworks we’ve developed at IT/OT Insider:
Understand (language and concepts),
Cooperate (organizational models), and
Scale (how to avoid endless pilots and build something that lasts).
The next 3 sessions focus on applying these concepts to a practical case study, peer discussions, and live Q&A. (We picked waffles as our case study topic).
“Give me something I can actually use on Monday morning.
That’s what we’re building.”
Vendor-neutral, technology-agnostic
This is not a training on how to configure product X or platform Y. While we regularly talk to technology vendors on our blog and podcast, the Academy remains fully vendor-neutral and independent.
We focus on concepts, not tools.
On frameworks, not features.
When do we start?
The first two groups kick off on 29 Aug and 5 Sep, all details can be found on ITOT.Academy.
❗Spots are limited for these first cohorts to keep the sessions highly interactive, don’t wait too long ❗
How to sign up
If you're curious, head over to ITOT.Academy where you’ll find all the details, schedules, and pricing. If you still have questions, feel free to contact us directly at academy@itotinsider.com.
We are excited to get started
For us, this is a natural next step after two years of sharing ideas on IT/OT Insider. The response to the early surveys has been amazing, and we are really looking forward to welcoming many of you into these first groups.
This isn’t about sitting back and watching more slides. It’s about doing the work together, with real people who are dealing with these challenges every day.
We really hope to see you there :)
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