Purpose: Since inception in the 1970s, Operational Technology (OT) systems were designed to operate in isolation from Information Technology (IT) systems mainly due to differences in objectives relating to Confidentiality, Integrity, Security and Availability (CISA). Additional diverse components include computing speed, and failure severity in terms of safety, environmental, and financial impact. With the onset of Industry 4.0 and the need for integration the worlds of IT and OT must operate in unison. The focal point of this research is to evaluate if an Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) best practice framework can be integrated into the operational technology domain.Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative desk research methodology initiates data gathering on the two key domains. A comparative analysis is subsequently adopted for results analysis. Thereafter, an application case of ITSM inclusive of OT is proposed and reviewed.Findings: After comparative analysis and application case, the research concludes that an IT best practice framework i.e. the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) can be integrated and adapted into the operational technology domain to facilitate management of OT in a service management style.Practical implications: The key benefit of this work is the inclusion of OT in global IT best practices in this Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) era.Originality/value: This paper contributes to ongoing research in IT-OT integration by providing a unique perspective on OT management in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR). Other researchers can utilize the research outcomes to apply ITSM in the OT domain where 4IR technologies have been implemented.

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Background: A Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system is critical for remote monitoring and control of devices in various industries such as power utilities, oil and gas refineries, and manufacturing. Previous generations of SCADA systems have numerous limitations in today’s business environment. The latest technological advancements have brought forth new SCADA architecture variants that can be configured to ensure optimised operations. There is a need to assess the latest SCADA architectures that are posed to replace previous generations.Objectives: This research study aims to review various SCADA architectures and proposes an optimum SCADA system architecture for power utility. The proposed architecture is compared with the existing power utility SCADA system to highlight the impact and benefits of the proposed architecture.Methods: The research uses a qualitative approach and a comparative case study method to compare 10 SCADA architectures against a literature review-based criterion. A Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) matrix is used to evaluate SCADA architectures and proposes an optimum Internet-of-Things (IoT)-SCADA system architecture for the power utility case study.Results: The research proposed an IoT-SCADA system architecture for optimum system functioning and compared the proposed architecture with the existing utility SCADA architecture. Moreover, the impact and benefits of the proposed architecture to the utility company are presented.Conclusion: The proposed IoT-SCADA system architecture has the potential to resolve many of the challenges encountered with previous generations of SCADA system architectures.