OT Asset Inventory
An OT asset inventory is a maintained record of every device on the control network: controllers, HMIs, switches, servers, and remote-access endpoints, each with make, model, firmware, network location, and support status. It is the first control in any OT security program because nothing can be segmented, patched, or monitored unless it is known.
A useful inventory records lifecycle status per device, not just its existence: whether the manufacturer still supports it, whether spares exist, and when it is scheduled for replacement. That turns obsolescence from a surprise into a budget line.
Inventories are built by passive observation of network traffic, review of switch and firewall configurations, and physical verification, and they decay quickly unless someone owns keeping them current.
Why it matters in cement, mining, and aggregates
In Potenza's 2025 assessment work across a multi-plant cement operation, 82% of 267 OT switches were End-of-Life or Discontinued. That figure exists because an inventory with lifecycle status was built; before it, the plants could not have answered the question.