What keeps Manufacturing IT leaders awake
IT/OT convergence and protection
Industrial control systems (PLCs, HMIs, SCADA, MES) increasingly need internet connectivity for analytics and remote support — but most have no authentication, no patching cycle, and end-of-life vendor support.
Ransomware shutting production lines
A ransomware event in office IT can cascade into OT shutdown if segmentation is weak. The financial cost is shift hours lost, not just IT recovery — and recovery has to consider OT as well as IT.
Aging hardware, OEM EOSL traps
Manufacturing estates run for 7–15 years. Cisco / HPE / Dell hardware drifts beyond OEM end-of-support-life faster than the refresh cycle — leaving teams paying premium maintenance for legacy kit, or running uncovered.
Multi-site WAN + roaming workforce
Group HQ, multiple production sites, distribution centres, and field engineering. SD-WAN with consistent security, OT-segmented VLANs, and SASE for remote staff is the modern architecture.
Engineered for manufacturing reality
IEC 62443 / NIS2 OT security
Network segmentation between IT and OT zones, asset discovery for ICS estates (Claroty, Nozomi, Dragos), and the OT-aware EDR / firewall controls IEC 62443 expects.
Backup + DR engineered for OT
Veeam or Rubrik for office IT, plus OT-specific backup of HMI configs, PLC logic, recipe data and historian databases. Immutable storage so a ransomware event doesn't take the backups out.
SD-WAN + SASE across sites
Fortinet Secure SD-WAN or Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN unifies multi-site WAN with one management plane. Zscaler or Palo Alto Prisma for the SASE side for hybrid / field workforce.
Third-party maintenance for production-critical kit
Servnet third-party maintenance (TPM) covers Cisco, HPE, Dell, NetApp and 20+ brands past OEM EOSL — typically 30–60% cheaper, with same/next-day SLAs for production-line-critical hardware.
The frameworks Servnet supports
IEC 62443
International standard for industrial control system security — zones / conduits model.
NIS2 Directive
EU directive affecting essential and important entities — manufacturing is in scope for many sub-sectors.
Cyber Essentials Plus
Required by major retail and grocery customers in supplier onboarding.
ISO 27001 + ISO 27019
ISO 27019 extends 27001 for energy / utility sector ICS.
GDPR + DPA 2018
Worker data, supplier data and consumer-facing data all in scope.
Food Standards Agency / FSA
Food & drink producers face FSA traceability and BRC Global Standard cyber requirements.
Customer profiles served
- ✓Discrete manufacturing (automotive, aerospace, defence)
- ✓Process manufacturing (food & drink, pharma, chemicals)
- ✓Engineering and machine builders
- ✓Industrial groups with multi-site footprints
- ✓Distribution and warehousing operations
- ✓Pharmaceutical manufacturers (MHRA / GxP requirements)
Manufacturing IT FAQs
Can you segment IT from OT in our brownfield estate?
Yes — most of our manufacturing engagements start with an OT asset discovery (Claroty / Nozomi / Dragos) to map what's actually on the OT network, followed by firewall-led segmentation (Fortinet, Palo Alto) and conditional access for the few legitimate IT-to-OT data flows (historians, MES integrations).
Do you support multi-site SD-WAN deployments?
Yes — Fortinet Secure SD-WAN and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN are our most-deployed platforms for multi-site manufacturers. We handle the architecture, deployment, and operational management with one SLA across all sites.
Can you maintain our older Cisco / HPE / Dell production kit past EOSL?
Yes — Servnet third-party maintenance covers most Cisco Catalyst, Cisco UCS, HPE ProLiant Gen8–Gen10, Dell PowerEdge 12G–14G, NetApp FAS / AFF older generations, and broader EOSL hardware. Typical saving is 30–60% vs continuing OEM support, with same / next-day SLAs.
Do you understand pharmaceutical GxP / MHRA validation?
Servnet works alongside your QA / validation team — we don't replace your CSV (Computer System Validation) consultancy, but we provide the technical infrastructure documentation (IQ / OQ inputs, change controls, backup evidence) your validation lead needs.
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